


Finding Normal

by BossAssBitch3799, MarvelEnthusiast3000, thebritishspider



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: All of the Avengers are practically Peter's parents, Angst, Betaed, Bisexual Peter Parker, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Gay Bucky Barnes, Gay Steve Rogers, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Peter Parker, M/M, Multi, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Canon Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Misses Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter has like 30 parents, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Science Bro’s, Steve Rogers Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24634402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BossAssBitch3799/pseuds/BossAssBitch3799, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelEnthusiast3000/pseuds/MarvelEnthusiast3000, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebritishspider/pseuds/thebritishspider
Summary: Peter wakes up early on a regular Saturday morning. Everything is completely normal as he gets ready for his day. After getting dressed, eating breakfast, and kissing his aunt on the cheek, he takes the subway to the Tower. He’s greeted by FRIDAY’s cheerful good morning, the Avengers (and Loki who stopped being a brat and joined his brother) drinking coffee, and everyone’s groggy hello’s. Tony, as usual, is in the lab. His ride down the elevator is peacefully quiet, and for the first time in what feels like forever, Peter feels like he’s found a sense of normalcy………… that is, until he sees a tall, brown-haired, blue eyed teen in the lab with Tony, tinkering away in the place where he usually is.OrTony invites Harley to be his intern at SI and Peter is forgotten. By the time Tony realizes what he’s done, will he be too late?
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Loki & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Wade Wilson
Comments: 367
Kudos: 1141





	1. A Totally Normal Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is not MCU compliant. Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame never happened. Peter and Harley are both 17 (so like after endgame), but Morgan doesn’t exist. Also, Natasha, Loki, and Tony are alive. So yeah. The MCU can kiss my ass :-)
> 
> Happy Reading!

Peter woke up groggily to his alarm at 7 AM and sat up in his bed. At first, he was confused as to why he was awake so early on a Saturday. He looked around at his room and quickly remembered that he was going to the Tower when he saw his bag. After hopping out of bed, he quickly got ready for the day. After a quick shower, he shuffled into the kitchen where May was getting ready for work. She smiled when he walked in and gave him a hug, greeting him with a good morning. He kissed her on the cheek in return, telling her to have a good day at work as she rushed out the door. He poured himself some cereal and ate it quickly, excited to get see the Avengers. Once he was done, he washed his bowl and headed out, his overnight bag filled with clothes, his suit, his completed homework, and a box of legos hanging off his shoulder. 

His ride on the subway was uneventful. Once he got to the Stark Tower, he was greeted cheerfully by FRIDAY. He replied with an equally energetic “Hey FRI!” and hopped into the elevator. FRIDAY took Peter up to the communal floor without question, and he was greeted by a myriad of sleepy Avengers. Loki and Thor were quietly chatting by the coffee pot, waiting for it to finish brewing. Everyone else seemed to already have their own cup. Steve and Bucky were cuddling on the couch, looking about ready to fall asleep again. He turned his head to see Clint, Natasha, and Bruce sitting on the barstools, staring at their drinks. He glanced at Wanda and Vision eating breakfast and- _wait does Vision even need to eat?_

Peter shook his head and greeted everyone cheerfully. He chuckled when he got a few tired mumbles in return. He walked over to where Natasha was sitting and hugged her from behind.

“Good morning маленький паук,” Natasha mumbled.

“Morning Мама паук,” Peter said cheerfully.

Natasha turned to smile at Peter and hugged him lightly. She mussed up his hair lightly and laughed at his pout. He playfully glared at her before walking over to Bruce and greeting him with far more energy than Bruce was ready or able to deal with. 

“Morning Pete,” Bruce yawned.

Peter chuckled and waved at Clint, who grunted into his coffee. 

Laughing lightly, he walked over to Thor and Loki. He was given a bone-crushing hug from Thor and a polite “Good Morning, Peter,” from Loki. Once he managed to regain his breath, he made his way over to the sleeping couple on the couch.

“Mr. Barnes? Mr. Rogers? Your coffee is getting cold,” Peter said to the pair softly. 

They woke up with a jolt and smiled at the young hero.

“Pete, how long is it gonna take you to finally start callin’ us Bucky and Steve?” Bucky asked, exasperated.

Peter shrugged happily, a grin gracing his face.

“You know Pete, you’re sleeping with us until Tony finishes your floor. You might as well call us by our first names,” Steve said teasingly.

Peter groaned, remembering the embarrassment that came with sharing a bed with the pair for the first time. Every Avenger was given a floor in the tower, but construction look months to finish. Since his floor was still under construction, Bucky suggested that Peter stay with him and Steve. Peter felt extremely awkward and repeatedly suggested that he just sleep on the couch, but they were having none of it. After getting tired of listening to Peter ramble, Steve just picked him up and plopped him down in the middle of the bed. Peter somehow managed to turn an even brighter shade of red and began stuttering. Bucky rolled his eyes, and told him to shut up before climbing in next to him. Steve mirrored his actions, getting in on Peter’s opposite side. Peter then became uncomfortably stiff, not knowing what to do while being sandwiched between the couple. Bucky rolled his eyes, put his arm around Peter, and gently told him to relax. When Peter stiffened even further, Steve laughed quietly and maneuvered him so that he was laying on Steve with Bucky spooning him from behind. Eventually, Peter stopped blushing long enough to fall asleep and woke up comfortably sandwiched between the couple. They eventually fell into a routine where Peter got in first, and Steve and Bucky would get on either side of him, cuddling him protectively. 

“It’s only until my room gets finished. Don’t go thinking I’m doing it for fun,” Peter retorted playfully.

Steve and Bucky adopted a hurt look on both of their faces.

“That’s it! You’re staying on the couch!” Steve exclaimed with mock anger.

Peter pouted and looked at him with puppy eyes.

“Okay, okay! Stop it! My gosh, those eyes of yours are far more persuasive than they should be!” Steve exclaimed, shutting his eyes tightly.

Peter smirked and laughed. He sat down between the now-awake pair and snuggled into them happily. Bucky nuzzled his hair with his cheek and Steve wrapped his arms around his two favorite boys (don’t tell Tony). 

Peter relaxed and sat in a comfortable silence for around 15 minutes before hearing FRIDAY call for him to go down to the lab, like she did every day at 8. He pouted and reluctantly left the comfortable embrace. The pair chuckled at seeing his pout and promised that they could continue later. Peter’s face lit up with joy as he hugged the pair. 

While Peter was waiting for the elevator to take him to the Lab’s floor, he thought about how his life finally had a sense of normalcy and calm. Nothing out of the ordinary (for superheroes anyway) happened. His life finally felt somewhat normal, and for that, he was extremely grateful. Now that there weren't any life-changing events happening, maybe now he could finally talk to his mentor about how he thought of him as a father figure. After all, what could go wrong? 

  
  


The elevator finally dinged and let him out into the lab. He thanked FRIDAY and walked up to the door. As per usual, Tony was tinkering away at his usual spot. The only issue was that someone was with him! And it wasn’t just a random person passing by. It was someone who looked to be about Peter’s age was working in his spot next to Tony. He was a bit taller than Peter and had brown hair and cobalt blue eyes. He was wearing what appeared to be one of Tony’s old AC/DC shirts and a pair of navy blue jeans. His face was scrunched up in concentration as he chatted with Tony. 

Puzzled, Peter walked in and waited for Tony to notice him. It took him almost 5 minutes to notice that Peter was there. Once he realized that Peter was there, he distractedly greeted him. 

“Oh! Hey, Kid. Meet my new intern, Harley Keener! Harles, this is Peter Parker. He’s a high school intern, just like you!” 

Peter raised his eyebrows at this. 

_New intern? Since when does he hire high school interns that aren’t superheroes? And what’s with the nickname? And why is he wearing one of Tony’s shirts????_

Peter warily approached the pair, eyeing Harley’s outstretched hand and sly smirk. He clasped his hand with Harley’s, shaking it lightly. Once the formalities were over, he turned back to Tony. 

“So, what’re we working on today Mr. Stark?” Peter asked cheerfully.

Tony looked embarrassed. 

“Sorry Pete, I was just planning on working with Harley today. I forgot you were coming.” 

Peter was shocked. He had been coming over every weekend for _months_ and Tony **_forgot_**? 

“Oh!” Peter said, trying to mask his hurt, “That’s fine. I can just work on something over here.” 

Peter gestured to the part of the lab where they weren’t working, brushing aside his feelings. 

“Actually-” Tony started.

“We’re gonna need to be there later,” Harley said sharply, cutting Tony off.

“Oh,” Peter said, deflating slightly, “Okay then. I’ll just go back up to the communal floor. See you later, Mr. Stark.”

Peter waited until he got to the elevator to let the frown appear on his face. Not only did Tony forget about him, he basically kicked him out of the lab! Did he do something wrong?

_Nah. Stop overreacting. Everything’s fine. It’s just one day. Everything will go back to normal tomorrow._

Little did Peter know that no, it wouldn’t.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> маленький паук - Little Spider (according to Google Translate - Sorry if it’s not correct)
> 
> Мама паук - Mamma Spider (Because a Black Widow is a spider) (also according to Google Translate - Sorry if it’s also not correct)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! I promise I'll try to update as often as I can. Please leave comments, because it really helps me know what changes I should make and how I'm doing. This is one of my first ever fanfics so please go easy on me please :-)


	2. Of Brownies and Lemon Bars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Natasha and Peter bake snacks for movie night and Natasha finds out what’s wrong with her little spider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! 
> 
> PS: There's an ATLA reference in here so if you haven't watched it, you should definitely go watch it because it's an amazing show, but also know that it's not essential to the story. 
> 
> Happy Reading :-)

A few hours after the “incident”, Peter and Natasha were baking brownies and lemon bars as snacks for Avengers Movie Night™. They tried to do it every other Saturday, and even though missions would sometimes get in the way, at least a few of the Avengers made sure that they stayed behind to be with Peter. Natasha noticed that Peter was becoming increasingly more and more distracted, staring off into the distance as he was stirring the chocolate batter. 

“маленький паук?” Natasha asked casually.

“Hmm?” Peter mumbled, clearly distracted.

“You okay?” 

Hearing Natasha ask that question so gently snapped Peter out of his trance.

“Yeah. Fine. Why?” Peter asked defensively.

Natasha sighed, “You just seem distracted. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

Peter nodded without making eye contact, not saying anything else. He didn’t need her worrying about him. Especially over something as stupid as this. 

After the pair poured their batters into their respective pans and put them in the oven, they set their timers and walked into the empty living room. In an attempt to make the time go by faster, Natasha put on Avatar, the Last Airbender, knowing that it was one of Peter’s favorites. Peter tried to pay attention, but his mind kept drifting off.

_Why was_ he _wearing Tony’s AC/DC shirt?_

Aang, Sokka, and Katara were kidnapped by the Kyoshi Warriors.

_Why would Tony hire another intern? Am I not enough?_

Sokka started training with the Kyoshi Warriors.

_How did Tony just_ forget _that I was coming over? Do I not matter anymore?_

Aang was using the Unagi to spray the village so that the fires would stop burning it down.

_Does he even remember that tonight’s movie night?_

“Peter,” a soft voice called out.

_What did I do wrong?_

“ _Peter,”_ the voice called out again, more insistently.

_Why would he replace me? Am I not good enough for him?_

“Peter!” Natasha called out, finally getting his attention. 

Peter’s head snapped up as he came back to reality. He heard the timers going off and looked at Natasha, who had a concerned look on her face.

Peter opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when Natasha sternly said, “Desserts now, talk later. And trust me, we _will_ talk.”

Peter nodded timidly and rushed over to the oven, Natasha close at his side. They took out their baked goods and placed them on the stove to cool. While doing this, Peter remembered something that Natasha told him the first time they baked together.

_“Never on the counter. Stark may like baked goods, but he won’t be too happy if you burn his counter. Billionaire or not, they’re custom-made and a pain to replace.”_

Peter smiled at the bittersweet memory with fondness. 

~~~

With the exception of Tony, Natasha and the other Avengers had still been wary of him. In an attempt to break the tension, Peter decided to make brownies to give to everyone. He had used the recipe that May and Ben taught him together before Ben’s death. The risk that came with baking the Parker Family Recipe™ was the flurry of emotions that Peter was overwhelmed with every time he made it. Completely forgetting about this, he went ahead and started gathering the ingredients. Halfway through making the batter, he had a complete breakdown. Sliding to the floor, tears streaming down his face, he realized that he couldn’t go through with it. Even turning on the stand mixer brought back too many painful memories of Ben helping him mix the batter and talking about secret ingredients and nonexistent magical substances. 

_“The final,_ most important _secret ingredient is love. As long as you remember to put it in, your brownies will always come out perfectly. I promise.”_

Peter couldn’t handle it. His senses were starting to become overwhelmed as he quickly slipped into a panic attack, which was how Natasha found him. She immediately realized that this kid was just that - a kid. He was broken and damaged just like the rest of them. Natasha pulled him into a hug, and as he sobbed into her shirt, her heart broke for him. From that moment on, she swore to protect him to the best of her ability. She helped him finish the brownies, throwing in random tips and tricks every so often, and promised to show him how to make her famous lemon bars. That way, they could make new memories together and replace the bad ones surrounding the delicious treats.

~~~

Natasha cleared her throat, bringing Peter back to reality.

“Well?” She asked, her eyebrow raised.

“I’m just being stupid, okay? It really isn’t that big of a deal,” Peter said defensively.

Natasha gave him an unimpressed look.

“Peter, I’m a spy and your friend. I know what it looks like when you’re upset over something small and this isn’t that.”

“Fine,” Peter lamented, “But you have to promise not to say anything about it to the others.”

Natasha considered this, and said, “I will, depending on how bad it is. If that Flash kid is bullying you again I don’t care about breaking the law. I will kick his ass.”

“It’s not that,” Peter sighed.

“Then what is it?” Natasha asked patiently, “You know you can tell me anything.”

“It’s just-” Peter started, cutting himself off with a sigh.

“Yes?” Natasha asked after a moment.

“Mr. Stark. He hired a new _high school_ intern. They basically kicked me out of the lab today. Мама паук, he _forgot_ that I was coming over today! **_Harles_ ** was wearing one of Mr. Stark’s favorite AC/DC shirts, and was working in _my_ spot! I know that I sound like a jealous brat but what if Mr. Stark is replacing me? Why would he hire another intern? Am I not enough?” Peter rambled, becoming increasingly distressed with each word.

Natasha pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tightly in an attempt to comfort him.

“Pete, I’m sure it’s just temporary. Everything should go back to normal soon. I know that it’s hard to see - what was his name?” 

“Harley,” Peter mumbled.

“I know it’s hard to see Harley working where you usually are, but I know that Tony would never try and replace you. Even an idiot would know that you’re irreplaceable. He probably just needs a little more help around the lab. Everything will go back to normal soon. Don’t worry little one,” Natasha said in the gentlest voice she could muster.

Peter nodded and hugged her tighter, burying himself deeper in the embrace. Despite the reassuring words Natasha was saying, Peter still felt worried. Unfortunately, so did Natasha. She had no idea how much of what she was saying was true, and could only hope at least some of it was, if only for Peter’s sake. After all the pain he had gone through in his short life, he didn’t deserve more. Especially from the man that quickly became his father figure. Natasha hoped that at the very least, even with everything on his mind, that he would be able to somewhat enjoy movie night later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> маленький паук - Little Spider (according to Google Translate - Sorry if it’s not correct)
> 
> Мама паук - Mamma Spider (Because a Black Widow is a spider) (also according to Google Translate - Sorry if it’s also not correct)
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed it! I promise I'll try to update as often as I can. Please leave comments, because it really helps me know what changes I should make and how I'm doing. They also help me know what you guys want for future chapters. This is one of my first ever fanfics so please go easy on me please :-)


	3. Movie Night: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which The Avengers + Loki get ready for Movie Night and Natasha tells everyone about what Tony did to Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally REALLY long omg so I cut it into three parts. 
> 
> Happy Reading! <3

A few hours after they were done baking, Peter and Natasha were chatting in the kitchen. Their desserts were hiding in the cupboard, where no one could steal them before movie night started. At around 6, Bruce walked in, wearing a grey t-shirt and blue plaid pajama pants.

“Hey, guys!” Bruce greeted cheerfully.

Natasha returned the greeting as Peter frantically shouted, “Shoot! We need to get into our pajamas!”

Bruce and Natasha chuckled as they watched the young spider rush off to Steve and Bucky’s room before turning to each other.

“I guess I should go get ready,” Natasha chuckled.

“You better. Pete wouldn’t be too happy if you broke one of the rules,” Bruce responded teasingly.

Natasha laughed and responded, “Good point,” before leaving to go change, albeit slower than Peter. 

There were three rules that every Movie Night participant had to follow:

  1. NO SPOILERS. No one cares how many times someone has watched the movie. No one is allowed to say **anything,** _especially_ if there’s someone present who hasn’t seen the movie that’s playing. Before this rule was made, Tony and Clint spoiled at least 20 movies for Thor, Loki, Steve, and Bucky. Failure to comply with the rule will result in a month-long ban of movie night and a strong distaste towards the perpetrator from all parties.
  2. Dress comfortably. No one wants to cuddle with a person wearing iron armor (*Cough* Tony *Cough, Cough*). Pajamas are preferred, especially if you come into movie night tired (something that everyone always is)
  3. Like a potluck, everyone has to bring something to contribute to the night. Whether it be pillows, blankets, candy, snacks, drinks (non-alcoholic, there is a child present), etc.



Once Peter and Natasha were done changing, they headed back to the kitchen. When the entered, they were greeted by Loki, who wearing a black t-shirt and black plaid pajama pants. He and Bruce were chatting quietly in the corner of the room.

“Hello, Natasha, Peter,” Loki greeted politely, a small smile gracing his face. It wasn’t until Loki saw the state of Peter’s clothing that the smile turned into a concerned frown. 

Peter was wearing a simple white t-shirt and blue plaid pajama pants, much like Bruce. Had this been anyone else, Loki wouldn’t have batted an eye. However, this was Peter, and he _always_ wore his Hello Kitty pants and an ‘I Survived My Trip to NYC’ shirt to movie nights. Peter personally told everyone that they were his favorite pajamas to wear, as they were extremely comfortable and the pants were a gift from Tony. 

“Hey Pete, what’s with the pajamas?” Bruce asked, voicing Loki’s thoughts.

“Just wasn’t feeling them,” Peter said as nonchalantly as he could, shrugging. He quickly walked to the pantry, grabbing a cookie. Bruce looked at Loki with a confused face, who returned it with a shrug. They both looked at Natasha who mouthed _“Living room”._ Bruce and Loki looked at each other before nodding in unison.

“Hey, Nat? Can you help us set up in the living room?” Bruce asked, praying that his voice wasn’t faltering.

“Sure,” Natasha responded.

The trio made their way to the living room, grabbing the pillows and blankets that Bruce and Loki had brought. Loki quickly arranged them with his magic, and sat down on the couch, waiting for an explanation. Bruce joined him, looking over at Natasha worriedly. Natasha explained the situation as calmly as she could, occasionally pausing in an attempt to calm herself down.

“....replaced. I told him that I wouldn’t say anything, but he’s gonna need someone to lean on if Stark really _did_ replace him with that Harley kid. I was hoping that you guys could spread the word. That way, Peter won’t suspect anything. If you can, go for Steve and Bucky first. The last thing that poor kid needs is his roommates turning on him.”

Bruce looked as though he was about to turn into Hulk, and Loki felt about twice as livid. Peter meant so much to both of them. Peter was never afraid of Bruce or the Hulk and was able to calm both down whenever they were angry. He always treated them with respect and without a trace of fear, something that both Bruce and his green counterpart appreciated. 

As for Loki, Peter never failed to be kind to him, even if he didn’t receive kindness in return. Back when he first arrived in the Tower, Loki was scared. He hadn’t had control over his body for months. Even though he was conscious during the events that took place in New York, he couldn’t do anything to counteract what he was doing. He had no control over any of his actions. Everyone knew this but still didn’t trust him. No one would go near his room, and Loki was beginning to feel as though he was going insane. Peter, unlike the others, wasn’t scared and volunteered to start bringing Loki’s meals. At first, the pair barely talked. Peter would smile at Loki, drop off the food, and then walk out. Peter quickly began an attempt to make small talk and started to linger in the room. Loki was abrasive and cold at first, not daring himself to trust the young spider. But after a few weeks of chatting, Loki’s facade faded and Peter quickly became one of the few people that he actually enjoyed being around. After a few more weeks of nagging and puppy eyes, Peter convinced the god to join him at movie night. The affair was…. awkward to say the least, but, eventually, the group became more comfortable around him. Thor loved being around his brother again, and Loki found that he liked being with the other Avengers. He was still slightly wary of Tony, but had otherwise accepted everyone else. 

Bruce and Loki nodded, both making a mental note to talk to the couple before the movie started.

Peter walked in with Thor, who was wearing a plain white tee, and green plaid pajama pants. 

“Hey, guys. Whatcha doin?” Peter asked, suspicion lacing his voice.

“Just talking about what movies we want to see,” Natasha answered nonchalantly, internally thanking god that she was a spy and knew how to lie.

“Oh!,” Thor exclaimed excitedly, “So were we! What movies do you want to watch?” 

“I was thinking Mama Mia. We haven’t watched it in a while,” Bruce answered thoughtfully, “You?”

“I was thinking Five Feet Apart,” Peter responded quietly, “We’ve been putting it off watching it for a while.” 

Bruce nodded thoughtfully, “Sounds good. I heard it was kinda sad though. You sure that’s what you want to watch?” 

Peter nodded, turning to Loki.

“What about you, Loki?”

“Something with magic.”

Thor laughed, patting his brother on the back. 

“What about you, brother?” Loki asked curiously.

“Peter has been telling me about this wonderful group of movies that were made by a Mr. Disney. I’d love to watch something that he has produced,” Thor announced loudly. 

Natasha laughed, commending Thor on his choice of movies. Disney was a personal favorite of hers. She loved a happy ending.

“How about you, Natasha?” Clint asked, appearing from behind the group. He was standing with Bucky, Steve, and Scott. 

“Hey guys!” Peter greeted cheerfully.

After the group said their “Hello’s”, Natasha remembered to answer Clint’s question.

“Anastasia. It’s one of my favorite movies.”

“Mine too,” Carol answered from behind Natasha. She was standing with Vision and Wanda, who had also just come down after changing into PJs.

The group went back and forth for a while, trying to decide what movie they wanted to watch. Steve and Bucky insisted that they both wanted to watch whatever the other wanted. A few good-natured eye-rolls and laughs later, Carol told the group that she didn’t really care what they chose. Wanda wanted to watch Hocus Pocus, but everyone wanted to wait until Halloween to watch it. Scott agreed with Thor, wanting to watch something Disney related, while Clint suggested that they watch Mean Girls. A few laughs later, they decided to watch Anastasia and Five Feet Apart, saving Disney movies for later. That is, assuming that there would be people awake to watch it. After finally coming to a decision, the group dispersed to get their snacks/drinks. 

Bucky and Steve were popping the popcorn when Bruce and Loki approached them. By the end of the conversation, everyone was frowning worriedly. Carol and Wanda, who had been grabbing the drinks from the fridge, overheard what Bruce and Loki were saying and quickly became concerned. They promised Bruce and Loki to never abandon Peter, and Steve and Bucky did the same. Scott, Vision, and Clint passed through the kitchen, arms full of candy and chips. When they saw the somber expressions on their teammate’s faces, they frowned. After finding out what was wrong, they quickly promised to do the same. Everyone was in agreement: Peter comes first, no matter what. After a playful argument over who got to cuddle with the spiderling to lighten the mood, the group headed over to the living room and placed down their snacks. 

Steve cuddled into Bucky on the far side of the couch, and Vision and Wanda did the same on the other end. The rest filled in, cuddling unapologetically. Clint snuggled into Bruce, and laughed when Bruce rolled his eyes. Thor wrapped his arms around his brother, who was surprisingly okay with the physical touch. Carol and Scott weren’t cuddling, unlike their friends. They were just sitting together comfortably. Peter sat between Bucky and Natasha, who smiled happily at knowing that they could cuddle their маленький паук. Once they were settled, bowls of popcorn in hand and bodies settled comfortably under the blankets, Peter asked FRIDAY to start playing Anastasia. The lights dimmed into darkness as the movie started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliff Hanger! Sorry y’all, I couldn’t resist. I promise that part 2 won’t take nearly as long as this one did. I hope you enjoyed, and don’t forget to comment! Let me know if you liked the chapter, if there’s a mistake somewhere, or recommendations as to what I should write next. Love y’all!


	4. Movie Night: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which The Avengers (Minus Tony, Sam, and Rhodey) turn out to be a bunch of big softies that apparently do have emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is angsty as hell and has a LOT of spoilers in it. If you haven’t seen Anastasia or Five Feet Apart, watch them and then come back. Also, bring tissues for the latter because that one is so freaking SAD.
> 
> PS I know that this is a really short chapter compared to the other ones I promise the next one will be longer
> 
> Happy Reading Everyone!

Those in the group who had watched the movie before sang along to the music, and everyone laughed collectively when seeing who failed Dimitri and Vlad’s auditions. Everyone teared up when Natasha sang ‘Once Upon a December’. Her voice went along with Anastasia’s beautifully, and the sadness in her voice was evident. She remembered life before she was a spy, and longed to have a family, and a normal life again. Peter hugged Natasha, nuzzling her lightly. She smiled and placed her arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder. The group became significantly happier when ‘Learn to Do It’ started playing. Natasha sang with Anastasia, while Peter with Dimitri, and Bruce with Vlad. Surprisingly, they all sang beautifully and made everyone laugh with their antics. Bruce sang for Vlad during the waltz, which sobered everyone quickly. They looked over at the cuddling Natasha and Peter, who were focused on the movie. Bucky quirked his eyebrow at Steve, who shook his head with a smile. 

“Peter and Natasha?” Steve whispered, “Not a chance.” 

“You don’t think so?” Bucky asked quietly

“No way,” Steve responded, laughing quietly, “Trust me, if they were dating, we would know. You and I both know how Nat feels about PDA.”

The pair fondly thought back to when she kissed Steve on the escalator.

“Fair enough,” Bucky whispered back, chuckling.

Carol sang for Sophie in ‘Paris Holds the Key’, making the group chuckle with her ridiculously fake french accent. Peter sang for Dimitri, sounding slightly sad, but was quickly cheered at hearing Clint, Natasha, and Vision imitate the background singers.

A tear slipped down Peter’s face when Anastasia talked about wanting to know if she belonged to a family. Peter loved May, but he always wondered if he would ever really be part of Tony’s family, or the family that the Avengers found in each other. He discretely wiped away the tear but found that it wasn’t discrete enough as Natasha held him tighter. He glanced at her, a sad smile on his face, and was given one in return. 

“You’ll always have a family here маленький паук. We love you, and so does your Aunt. I can’t speak for Tony, but everyone _here_ loves you.” Natasha whispered.

Peter felt his eyes water again and attempted to blink them back. He nodded and smiled at her, burrowing himself closer into the embrace.

Once the movie was over, Peter called for a short break. That way, everyone could refill on snacks, use the bathroom, stretch, and wake themselves up. Fifteen minutes later, after everyone was back, Peter told FRIDAY to put on Five Feet Apart.

The movie’s start put everyone in a somber mood, but it was quickly lifted as the movie cut to the girls talking in Stella’s room. The group stayed relatively quiet throughout the first part of the movie. Peter smiled when he saw his childhood crush appear on the screen. Natasha and Bucky nudged him lightly, making Peter giggle and blush. The group let out collective chuckles at the videos that Will was watching of Stella, and laughed at the beginning of Poe’s phone call with her. They got extremely worried during Poe’s choking session, and let out a collective sigh of relief when they saw that he was fine. Peter looked as though he was ready to jump out of Bucky’s hold when Will slipped on the roof. The other Avengers were almost as scared as Stella and Peter were for the boy.

The group collectively looked at Peter when Poe told Will that he didn’t like Stella because he was gay, but Peter feigned ignorance. He continued to stare at the screen, despite feeling everyone’s eyes on him. Everyone smiled at seeing Stella and Will do their treatments together. The group went through a roller coaster of emotions throughout the movie. They were scared when they found out that Stella had to go under anestesia, but smiled when they saw Will sing to her. Their smiles widened when they saw the gift that Will left for her, and frowned when they saw Will looking at the chances of survival for patients with B. cepacia. They smiled again when they heard Stella’s voicemail for Will, and continued to do so until seeing Stella’s video to Will. Half the group was teary-eyed at seeing the heartfelt video, and they felt worried at knowing that the couple could die if they got too close. The group collectively grinned during the scavenger hunt, and felt their smiles grow even wider during the party. They cried during Poe’s death (yes, even Loki), and even harder when Will had to give Stella CPR. They continued to cry through the end of the movie, and sobs could be heard throughout the floor as the movie reached its end. Few were able to stifle their cries as they held each other. 

Once the credits were over, the group had somewhat managed to slow their cries. Peter was still hiccupping into Bucky’s shirt when Natahsa asked FRIDAY to put on a Disney movie.

“Something with a happy ending?” Natasha asked, her voice wavering in the middle.

“Of course,” FRIDAY answered gently, putting on Tangled.

Peter fell asleep on Bucky’s chest, exhausted from crying. Steve and Bucky smiled fondly at the tired boy. Steve ruffled his hair as Bucky rubbed his back comfortingly, wishing that he could hug the young spider without waking him up.

After a few minutes of the movie starting, the group fell into a comfortable silence. That is…. until Tony and Harley walked in, blankets and popcorn in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone says anything, everyone in this story is at least at the age of consent (17 in New York) so if I wanted Peter and Natasha to date (I don’t), they could and it wouldn’t be illegal.
> 
> Also before y’all go crazy about what Steve and Bucky were saying, please don’t. They were joking around. 
> 
> ANYWHO
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I really hope that everyone liked the chapter. If not, let me know in the comments! Constructive criticism only please! I'm currently trying to get over writer's block so it might be a while before you get another chapter, but I'd REALLY appreciate it if you guys could leave me recommendations for what you want to happen next.


	5. Movie Night: Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony and Harley interrupt Movie Night, Tony continues to be an ass, Harley becomes an actual human, and Peter runs away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took me so long to get out! In my defense, I did re-wrote it four times. To make up for it, I made it over 3,000 words long.
> 
> Happy Reading! <3

By the time Harley and Tony _finally_ made it out of the lab, it was midnight. They had narrowly avoided a serious chemical burn, setting the entire lab on fire, and a minor explosion.

_Earlier that day…_

Harley had just emerged from his room when Tony decided to show him around. When Tony arrived at the airport the day before, it was 7 in the morning and he was extremely grumpy about having to be awake that early without coffee. Happy reminded him that Harley had probably been awake since three am, which immediately made Tony stop complaining. When they pulled up to Harley’s terminal, Tony requested that Happy stop at Starbucks on their way home. Happy tiredly agreed, and the pair waited for Harley to emerge. 

As soon as Harley spotted the pair, his face broke into a tired grin. He sluggishly walked up to the car and smiled when Tony engulfed him in a fatherly embrace. Happy was kind enough to put his bags in the trunk for him, knowing that the teen was exhausted. Harley almost immediately fell asleep on the millionaire after getting into the car. Tony smiled fondly at the sleeping boy, and wrapped an arm around him. He quietly asked Happy to order his coffee for him, not wanting to disturb the teen. To Tony’s surprise, Happy agreed quietly, not making any remarks. 

“Want your coffee, Tony?” Happy asked, pulling out of the drive-through.

“It can wait. I don’t want to wake him up,” Tony responded quietly.

Happy was surprised at this, not expecting Tony to turn down coffee in favor of not waking up the sleeping boy. He knew that Tony cared about Harley, but hadn’t realized that it was to this extent. He had only ever seen Tony act this way with Peter, come to think of it.

Happy nodded wordlessly and drove off, the coffee cups resting in the cup holders next to him.

Once they got back to the Tower, Happy looked back at the pair. He shook his head fondly upon seeing that Tony had also fallen asleep. 

“Stark? We’re here,” Happy said gruffly.

Tony startled awake, accidentally waking up Harley in the process. Harley yawned, snuggling into Tony’s embrace contentedly. Happy chuckled at the pair before getting out of the car to grab Harley’s bags. Tony nudged Harley awake and helped him inside, letting Happy deal with the luggage. 

Once Harley and his luggage were settled in the guest bedroom, Happy gave Tony his coffee and the pair went about their day as normal.

Well… sort of. Happy went about his day as per usual. Tony, on the other hand, planned what he and Harley were going to do the next day. Tony planned on showing him around the tower and then giving him full access to the lab - something that only he, Bruce, and Peter had. After that, he would introducee Harley to the team during movie night, and everyone would have a blast.

_Speaking of blasts…_

After the tour, Tony and Harley began working together in the lab. They did so side by side, something that Harley had always wanted to do. Unfortunately, Harley had accidentally added the sulphuric acid to the hydrogen peroxide instead of the other way around. Something that the pair had realized too late, because doing this caused the mixture to explode. Even worse, Harley spilled the acid on his shirt, causing it to start melting. The poor boy had to rip it off and was immediately sprayed with a freezing cold neutralizing solution by one of Tony’s robots. It had been designed for just this kind of incident, and Harley narrowly escaped serious burns. 

”Jesus, kid. Read the labels next time, will you? You’re gonna give me a heart attack,” Tony grouched, handing Harley a towel and one of his shirts. 

“What can I say, chemistry’s never been my strong suit. It’s much more fun to do a trial by error than to actually follow instructions,” Harley joked.

Tony gave him a tired glare.

“You’re killing me, kid. C’mon. Dry yourself off, put on my shirt, and let's head over to where you can’t blow up my lab again.”

“Okay, _Dad,_ ” Harley teased. He realized that he quite literally almost killed both himself and freaking _Iron Man,_ but he didn’t want to make too big a deal out of it. After drying himself off and putting on his shirt, he gave Tony a quick hug. He sauntered off to the area where there weren’t any chemicals and began working, Tony right by his side once more. That was where Peter found the pair a few hours later. 

After Peter left the lab, Harley felt guilty at how he had acted towards him. What Harley hadn’t told Peter was that the area where he wanted to work was where the accident had occurred. In hindsight, he probably should’ve, but didn’t occur to him at the time. In Harley’s rush to keep Peter safe from his mistake, he came off as a bit rude.

As Harley thought about it, the pair continued to work for hours in the lab, falling into a steady rhythm. Even FRIDAY’s Avenger’s Movie Night™ alert couldn’t bring the pair out of it. It wasn’t until Tony saw the time that he realized they were missing movie night.

Tony hadn’t bothered to tell Harley about all of the movie night rules. The pair were already wearing somewhat comfortable clothes, so all Harley needed to know was to not spoil any of the movies. After Harley was informed of two out of three of the rules, the pair grabbed their snacks and walked into the living room. 

They were presented with a tired group of Avengers, most of which were asleep. Tangled was playing in the background as Peter, Bruce, and Clint slept. Bucky was holding Peter in a protective embrace and glared at the pair as soon as they walked into the room. Natasha, Thor, and Loki did the same. The others simply ignored the pair and continued watching the movie as though nothing happened.

Tony cleared his throat uncomfortably, understandably confused about getting the cold shoulder. 

“Hey guys, this is Harley. He’s my new intern, and he’s gonna be staying with us for the summer.”

Harley waved uncomfortably. The group barely spared him a glance, much to Tony’s dismay.

“I know we joined late and didn’t bring anything, but I was hoping that you’d make an exception and let us make it up next time?” Tony asked apologetically.

Natasha looked at Bucky and Steve, who gave her a shrug. She gave the pair a curt nod before turning her attention back to the movie. Tony sat down next to the sleeping Bruce, who appeared to be content in using Tony as a pillow. Harley sat next to Tony, snuggling into his side.

At seeing this, Natasha began angrily muttering Russian profanities. Bucky agreed silently, earning a nudge from Steve. 

“ _James Buchanan_ ,” Steve chastised quietly.

“What? We’ve got a point,” Bucky whispered.

Steve sighed, “Bucky, Harley didn’t do anything wrong. Tony did. We can’t be mad at him for something that he didn’t do.”

“That doesn’t make it right!” Natasha whispered angrily.

Steve sighed again, “No, it doesn’t, but being rude to Harley because of something that he didn’t do isn’t right either. All we can do is support Peter and pray that Stark comes to his senses.”

Natasha and Bucky sighed irritatedly but nodded nonetheless. They knew that it would be wrong to treat Harley badly because of what Tony was doing, but it didn’t make them feel any better about it. 

Peter, who had been awake since Tony and Harley entered the room, had been listening intently to the conversation. He made sure to keep his breathing even as he listened, hoping that it was enough to trick the trio. It seemed to work well enough, for when he shifted to get more comfortable, Bucky shushed the pair.

Peter turned to face the screen, blearily opening his eyes. He yawned and snuggled deeper into Bucky’s embrace. He loved the way his arm felt against his hot skin. It was comforting and helped to cool him off. Bucky smiled when he realized that the young spider was awake, and kissed the top of his head. Peter turned red, not used to the affection from the soldier, and smiled. 

“You woke up just in time to watch your favorite part, Pete,” Bucky whispered.

Peter looked at the screen to see that Eugene and Rapunzel were dancing in the village and exploring Corona. It was the scene right before the lanterns were released. He groaned, remembering what happened the last time they watched the movie. 

  
A few movie nights ago, Tangled was played and Peter sang for Rapunzel in every song. The team cheered him on and even sang along with him during some of the songs. Peter ended up singing “I See The Light” with Bucky - who was singing for Eugene - and turned cherry red when Bucky kissed his cheek. His head nearly snapped at how quickly he looked at Steve, who chuckled and kissed him on his other cheek. Bruce actually began getting worried because of how red Peter was becoming, for he had never seen someone turn so red.

“ _Buckyyyyyy_ ,” Peter whined.

Bucky, Natasha, and Steve laughed quietly.

“Don’t worry _Rapunzel,_ your Prince Charmings will save you.” Natasha teased quietly.

Peter let out another muffled groan into Bucky’s chest, shaking his head when he felt Bucky’s laughter reverberate through his chest. He glared at the chucking man, who ruffled Peter’s hair fondly. 

Steve smiled warmly at the pair, feeling slightly bad at letting his boyfriend torment the teen.

“You should sing, Pete. You sounded amazing last time,” Steve remarked after Bucky and Natasha stopped laughing.

Peter looked away, blushing.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to wake up anyone who’s sleeping.”

“We all love your voice, маленький паук. I somehow doubt that they would mind if you woke them up with your singing,” Natasha said gently, trying to convince Peter to do what he wanted without feeling like she was pressuring him.

Peter shrugged, “I mean, I’d do it, but I’d have to get up to do that, and Bucky’s _really_ comfy.”

Bucky chuckled, “Thanks, Pete. But you can still sing from down here, you know. I’d still be more than happy to join you if that’s what you want.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I’m not really in the mood. Especially not with _him_ here,” Peter grumbled.

The trio looked at one another, wishing that they could help their little spider. He usually loved to sing. Whether it be a song from one of his playlists, music from a movie, or something random on the radio, if Peter knew it, he would sing it.

“Alright, Pete. If you’re sure,” Steve said calmly, rubbing his shoulder from behind Bucky.

Most of the awake participants looked over at Peter expectantly, feeling slightly disappointed when he didn’t sing with Rapunzel. Seeing that the teen was so off-put that he wouldn’t sing put the group into a somber mood. Well, most of the group. Tony and Harley remained blissfully ignorant of the situation, not paying the silence a single thought.

After the movie was over, Tony asked Harley if there was anything that he wanted to watch while the group took another break.

“Have you guys watched ‘Love, Simon’? I’ve been meaning to watch it for a while,” Harley responded while grabbing a bottle of water.

“No, I don’t think so,” Tony responded nonchalantly.

Hearing this shook the entirety of the group to their core. The night that they watched it for the first time, Peter came out to them as bisexual. Everyone remembered with perfect clarity the way Peter’s eyes glistened when the movie was over, wishing that he could be as brave as Simon was. When asked what was wrong, Peter started crying, terrified that the team wouldn’t accept him for who he was. Everyone remembered the hug that Tony gave him, reassuring him that he would always be there and that his sexuality didn’t change anything. Everyone else followed suit, even Steve and Bucky (much to everyone’s surprise). It was the night that the couple told the team that they had been secretly dating since the ’40s. 

“You’re joking, right?” Natasha asked incredulously.

Tony looked at her as though she had grown another head.

“What?” Tony asked, slightly puzzled.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t remember? You _seriously_ don’t remember?” Natasha growled.

Peter stepped between Tony and Natasha in an attempt to keep her from killing the man.

“Let it go, Tasha,” Peter said quietly.

“Peter-” Natasha started.

“ _Natasha_ ,” Peter snapped, “Let. It. Go.”

A silence passed over the group for a moment. No one had ever heard Peter talk to Natasha like that.

Natasha sighed resignedly, pinching her nose.

“ _Fine,_ but we are _going_ to talk about this later. Got that Stark?” Natasha growled.

Tony nodded, slightly terrified of what the spy was going to do to him. Poor Harley had no idea what was going on and shrunk into a corner. He didn’t mean to cause trouble, something that Natasha realized, but he certainly wasn’t making the situation any easier. 

Plastering a fake smile on her face, Natasha politely apologized and urged Harley to go back to the couch. He practically ran back to the living room, terrified of further upsetting the woman. Tony trailed after him, equally scared of angering Natasha.

“Well,” Peter said after a beat, “I think I’m going to turn in early.”

“You sure, Pete?” Bruce asked worriedly.

Peter smiled sadly, “I’m feeling kinda tired.”

“You can always cuddle with me and Buck until you fall asleep. We can take you up after the movie’s over,” Steve gently suggested. He didn’t want the teen to be by himself right now. He deserved to be surrounded by people that would support and love him.

“As great as that sounds, I think I’ll just head up now. I wouldn’t last five minutes anyway.”

Despite not being thoroughly convinced, the group let him go. That is, after Peter gave everyone a hug and reassured them that he was fine.

After telling FRIDAY to take him up to Bucky and Steve’s floor and the elevator door closed, Peter let out a sigh. He rested his head against the cold wall.

After he walked out and into the bedroom, he fell back on the bed with a sigh.

“Hey FRI? Can you do me a favor?” Peter asked after a minute of sitting in silence, “Give me some privacy? I really want to be left alone. If anything happens, send Bucky or Steve a text? I really don’t want to bother anyone and I’d rather not have Mr. Stark get involved.”

“Of course, Peter. Is there anything else I can do for you?” FRIDAY asked kindly, her comforting Irish lilt present in her voice. 

Peter smiled bitterly, “Sorry FRI, but I don’t think there’s anything you can do to make the guy who I thought was a father figure of mine remember me. But thanks anyway. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Peter,” FRIDAY responded fondly, turning off the lights for him.

Peter quickly fell into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning constantly.

_“Why would I want_ you _when I have Harley?” Tony taunted._

_Harley laughed mockingly, “Yeah. Why would Tony want a dork like you when he has_ me _? You’re_ no one _compared to me, Spider-Freak.”_

_Suddenly, Bucky and Steve appeared next to Harley and Tony._

_“Steve? Bucky?” Peter asked hopefully._

_Their stances were just as mocking as Tony and Harley’s. The glares on their faces did little to comfort Peter._

_Steve rolled his eyes, “They’re right, you know.”_

_Peter’s eyes widened. “What?” He asked, not expecting Steve’s response._

_Bucky laughed viciously._

_“Why would we ever want such a cowardly ‘hero’. You’re nothing more than a childish fanboy,” He growled._

_Peter’s eyes watered._

_“Bucky, Steve. Please!” Peter pleaded._

_Natasha showed up next to Bucky, chuckling ruefully. She walked over to Peter, and gently caressed his cheek._

_“Oh, Peter,” She said sweetly. She harshly brought her hand down to her side, voice hardening, “Why on earth would we ever want a whiny child like_ you _?”_

_“Natasha?” Peter asked in disbelief, a tear cascading down his cheek. Natasha laughed mockingly, walking over to stand next to Bucky._

_Loki, Bruce, Thor, Clint, Wanda, Vision, Dr. Strange, Carol, and Scott all appeared behind Peter’s tormentors, cruel grins on their faces._

_“Guys?” Peter asked timidly._

_“You should just do us all a favor and leave. You’re nothing more than a waste of space,” Clint growled._

_Another tear slipped down Peter’s cheek._

_“You’ll never be a real hero. I’ve seen hundreds of heroes in hundreds of timelines and I’ve never seen someone as weak and pathetic as you,” Strange taunted._

_Tears began streaming freely down Peter’s cheeks._

_“We’re better off without a child like you.”_

_“You’re nothing more than a brat.”_

_“You will never be worthy of my hammer, or our love. You are far too weak.”_

_“GO!”_

_“LEAVE!”_

_“NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE!”_

_“GET OUT!”_

_Peter was surrounded, being assaulted by their words. He was openly crying at this point and was quickly losing his ability to breathe._

_“_ Please _,” Peter begged, “Just let me go.”_

_“Peter?” A voice echoed._

_The group encircled him, continuing to yell at him._

_“Let me go,” Peter sobbed._

_“_ Peter,” _The voice urged._

_The group was quickly closing in on him, still screaming for him to leave. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic when Bucky suddenly grabbed him in a tight hold, strangling him._

_“_ PETER, _” The voice screamed._

Peter jolted awake, breathing heavily. He was covered in sweat and Bucky and Steve were looking at him worriedly. As soon as their eyes met, Peter jumped out of bed and quickly backed away from them. 

“Peter?” Steve asked worriedly.

Peter looked as though he was about to run, so the pair tried to act as calmly as they could.

“I can’t,” Peter croaked. 

“маленький паук? It’s us,” Bucky said gently, taking a small step towards the shaking teen. 

Peter stepped back, feeling his back hit the wall.

“I’m sorry,” Peter sobbed, “I just can’t.”

He tapped his wrists, watching the nanotech build his suit around him. Exactly how Tony had designed it to work. Once the suit was fully on, he opened the window and jumped out, watching the worried couple sprint forward and shout his name. 

He caught himself on a nearby building, swinging away. Once he felt far enough, he asked Karen to turn off his location and to tell the team that he wanted to be alone if they asked where he was. 

He looked out at the city from the rooftop, praying that there wouldn’t be any crime to stop. He really wanted some peace and quiet.

He asked Karen to retract his mask after scanning the area, ensuring that no one could see him. He heard rustling on the other side of the building but didn’t turn around. If it was anyone that he didn’t want to see, his Spidey-Sense would’ve told him so. That ruled out any of the Avengers, any villains, and any civilians. That left only two people, and there was no way that his aunt was on the roof of the building with him. 

Without turning around, he quietly greeted the anti-hero.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Hey, Wade.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!
> 
> I know, I know, I'm sorry. But also not really that sorry, because it leaves all of you wanting more. ;-)
> 
> In case anyone forgot, маленький паук - Little Spider
> 
> Sorry again for taking so long again 😅. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but hopefully it won't take nearly as long as this chapter did haha. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed reading! Please leave a Kudos if you liked it and a comment if you have a suggestion for next chapter or if there's a mistake that my beta readers and I missed. Or... you know... more death threats for Tony.


	6. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Platonic) Spidey-Pool adventures in which Wade attempts feelings and Peter accidentally scares the shit out of Bucky and Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys it's pretty much just a whole bunch of angst along with bunch of fluff at the end and before anyone says anything, NO Wade and Peter are NOT dating. Not in this fic. 
> 
> Happy Reading!!

“Hey, Pete. How’s my favorite Spider-Baby doing today?” Wade asked cheerfully.

Peter sighed tiredly, “Not great, to be completely honest.”

Wade’s smile immediately fell off his face, a worried frown replacing it.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, pulling off his mask and looking at the teen with a concerned expression.

Tears welled into Peter’s eyes as he shook his head no. Wade put his hand on the teen’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Peter immediately launched himself into his friend’s arms, desperately trying not to have a complete breakdown. Wade was completely shocked but tried his best to comfort the young hero. 

“Hey, you’re okay. I’m here, alright? What’s wrong, Pete?”

Peter shook his head, unable to speak. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he wouldn’t be able to stifle his sobs. Wade realized this and did his best to reassure the teen.

“Look, I’m not great with feelings and shit, but I want to help. If you need to cry or scream or whatever, I’m here. Okay?” 

Peter nodded his head and took a shuddering breath to try and calm himself. 

“God it was so awful. Everyone was screaming at me. They all hate me and I’m a terrible hero and a coward and a waste of space that’ll never be worthy of being an Avenger,” Peter rambled, sobbing.

“Woah! Hey! Slow down! That’s my favorite superhero you’re talking about. I might have to fight you to defend his honor,” Wade joked lightly.

Peter chuckled wetly. Of course Wade would make that joke. He did it every time Peter was getting down on himself. 

“Thanks, Wade,” he responded quietly.

Wade hugged the young hero tighter, “Anytime. Now you wanna tell me what’s got you so worked up?”

Peter sighed, looking over at the Avenger’s tower. He didn’t want to sound like a brat and like he was being overly dramatic, but he was really being affected by Tony’s behavior.

“It’s Mr. Stark. He has a new intern. He completely forgot about me,” Peter whispered.

“Pete, I’m sure that it’s just temporary. Isn’t the guy like your _dad_ or something? He’ll come around,” Wade said, attempting to comfort the distraught hero.

“He forgot my coming out,” Peter mumbled, his voice muffled by Wade’s suit.

“What was that?” Wade asked, his ears straining to hear the young spider.

“He forgot what happened when I came out!” Peter said, nearing tears again, “His intern wanted to watch Love, Simon during movie night and when he asked Mr. Stark if he had ever seen it, he said _no_. The night we watched it for the first time wasn’t just the night I came out, it was the night that Bucky and Steve came out! And he just _forgot!_ ” 

“Oh my god. Pete, I’m so sorry. He’s being a total dick to you. Do you want me to go kill him for you? Because I can totally do that. It wouldn’t be hard or anything. Oooh, I could always draw it out, make it particularly painful,” Wade suggested with a wink. 

Peter shook his head and laughed wetly, “No. Remember the deal we made when we first started working together?” 

Wade sighed irritatedly, “Yeah, yeah. I stop killing as much as I normally do if you stop acting like I killed someone every time I swear.”

Peter chuckled, “Yeah. So no killing or torturing Mr. Stark.”

A wave of silence passed over the pair as they broke their hug and looked out over the city, leaning on the railing that lined the roof. 

“Hey, Pete?” Wade asked after a few minutes.

“Yeah?” Peter asked, distracted.

“What were you talking about when you said that everyone was screaming at you? From what you’ve told me, the rest of that team of yours adores you about as much as I do.”

“Oh….” Peter trailed off, realizing that he completely forgot to tell the merc about his dream.

“I had this really bad nightmare. All of the Avengers were screaming at me to leave, and told me stuff like how I was a waste of space and a useless coward; that I’m not worthy of their love and never will be,” He sighed.

“Jesus. You know that none of that’s true, right? Even if some crazy shit like that did happen, you’d always have me and your aunt. And that kid you’re friends with, Ted?” Wade said, putting his arm around Peter. 

“Ned,” Peter responded, rolling his eyes. The joke was really starting to get old.

“Ned,” Wade amended, “You’ve got him too.”

After a minute, Peter quickly hugged the merc and mumbled out a thank you. Wade hugged the teen back, ruffling his hair. 

“Wanna go out on patrol for a little while?” Peter asked after a few minutes. 

“With my favorite Spider-Baby? Always!” Wade responded enthusiastically. 

Peter chuckled and asked Karen to put his mask back on.

“Keep up if you can, Poolie!” Peter shouted happily, shooting a web at a nearby building and swinging away. 

Wade shook his head with a grin. He pulled his mask back on and jumped off the roof, chasing after the young hero.

_There's my favorite hero._

A few hours later, the pair had stopped a bank robbery, caught three muggers, prevented a guy from stealing someone’s car, and stopped two drug deals. They were exhausted, but happy that they got to have some fun and stop some crime. The pair joked around happily as they ran around the city. 

“Alright, I think that’s enough for tonight,” Wade panted. 

The pair was resting on another rooftop, this one much closer to the Tower than the first one they had been on.

“Yeah, I’m exhausted,” Peter responded, gasping for breath.

Wade and Peter looked over at the Tower. Peter felt bad for the way he had left. Steve and Bucky were probably scared out of their minds. Leaving the way he did probably freaked them out, but at least they could always track his sui- _shit_.

“Karen? Is my tracker on?” Peter asked frantically.

“No, Peter,” She responded, “You never turned it back on after you updated the suit.”

“Fuck,” Peter swore, making Wade look at him in surprise. The young hero almost never cursed.

“You good?” Wade asked, surprised. 

“Karen? Can you turn my tracker back on? Oh god, I’m so dead,” Peter groaned.

Wade looked at Peter sympathetically.

“You left without turning your tracker back on? Jesus kid, they’re gonna murder you.”

Peter groaned irritatedly, “Yeah, I know. I can’t believe I was so stupid. They’ve probably been running around for hours looking for me.”

“Well, there’s nothing you can do about it, now. It’s not like you did it on purpose. You were terrified out of your mind and needed to get out. The last thing you were thinking about was whether or not your location tracker thingie was on,” Wade said in an attempt to comfort the hero he had grown to love.

“And that’s why we’re not going to murder him,” Bucky said from behind the pair.

Peter and Wade whirled around to see an exhausted-looking Bucky and Steve. The bags under their eyes made them look like they had been awake for longer than teen and anti-hero had been. 

“Were you guys looking for me all night?” Peter asked incredulously.

“No, not all night. We both knew that you needed some space, so waited for you to come back. After an hour, we got worried so we tried calling you,” Steve said tiredly.

Peter cringed. During his last patrol, he turned his suit on Do Not Disturb. With the exception of emergencies and calls from his aunt, he wouldn’t be bothered. 

“Sorry! I forgot that my suit was on Do Not Disturb,” Peter responded sheepishly.

“We get it, Pete. It’s just like Wilson said: you weren’t thinking. You were scared and needed to get away. We’ve all been there,” Bucky responded comfortingly, “Fight or flight is a natural response when you’re like that. Your body wasn’t in any kind of shape to fight us, so you left.” 

Peter nodded sheepishly. That sounded about right. 

Steve sighed, “I just wish you would tell us what got you in that state. There’s nothing we can do to help if you’re running from us.”

Peter and Wade looked at each other, at Bucky and Steve, and then at each other again. 

“You want me to tell them? If you can’t say it, I’ll be fine to do it for you,” Wade offered quietly. 

“Please?” Peter asked weakly. 

Wade smiled, “Of course. Anything for my favorite spider.”

Peter thanked him and walked off, not wanting to hear the conversation.

Bucky and Steve looked at the mercenary warily.

“Since Pete doesn’t want to talk about it, I’m doing it for him. You guys good with that?” Wade asked politely.

The pair looked at each other. Shrugging, they turned back to the mercenary and nodded.

“Good. Basically, Peter had a nightmare that you and the other Avengers told him a whole bunch of shit and made him feel like he was a waste of space. Something about him being a terrible hero and a coward. Bunch of bullshit if you ask me, but he seems to believe it. I doubt that you two would’ve been able to help him because you guys were yelling at him in the dream too. Oh and apparently that so-called ‘daddy mentor’ of his went out and got a new intern to replace him. I have a feeling that’s what caused the nightmare,” Wade explained crudely.

“Jesus,” Bucky said, pinching his nose. 

Steve rubbed his temple and sighed, “I knew that he was being badly affected by Tony’s behavior, but I didn’t know it was to this extent!”

“The guy is like Pete’s dad. He’s already lost his real dad and his uncle. I don’t want him to lose another father figure. He’s already gone through enough,” Wade said, a hint of sadness evident in his voice.

Bucky and Steve nodded somberly and looked at the ground.

Their attention was directed towards Peter when the group heard him yawn. He appeared to be falling asleep on the railing. 

“Hey, Pete?” Wade asked, “You should probably go home, get some sleep. Besides, I need to get home too, see Vanessa.”

Peter nodded tiredly in response, yawning again. He was exhausted from waking up early and staying awake for as long as he could. Even though he did manage to get a little sleep, it was fitful. Not to mention, he went patrolling even after the adrenaline from the nightmare wore off.

“You gonna be okay to walk home? You look like you’re about to pass out,” Wade said concernedly.

Peter yawned in response, nodding tiredly and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Yeah… I don’t believe you,” Wade said after a minute.

“We drove here. We can take him back in the car,” Steve responded, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

Wade nodded approvingly. He said his goodbyes after reminding Peter that he was still perfectly fine with torturing and/or killing Tony. The group smiled when Peter laughed tiredly. 

After Wade left, Bucky and Steve helped Peter down from the roof and into the car. Peter fell asleep almost immediately, much to the couple’s alarm. He had always been able to fall asleep quickly, but it rarely happened _this_ quickly. 

Once the trio got back to the Tower, Steve had to carry the young hero inside and into their bedroom. Thankfully, everyone had already gone to bed for the night, allowing them to get to their room with little resistance. 

Once the trio was in their room, Steve placed the sleeping boy in the middle of their bed. Bucky wrapped his arms around the worried man, who was looking down at Peter sadly.

“You alright?” Bucky whispered.

Steve sighed, “I’m fine. It’s Peter I’m worried about. I have half a mind to punch Tony for what he’s doing to him.”  
  


Bucky chuckled, “Me too. But for now we have to just wait for Stark to come to his senses and hope that Nat doesn’t kill him before he can.”

Steve cracked a smile, “He’s _so_ dead.”

“Yeah….” Bucky trailed off, “Hey! Why don’t we have Peter talk to Sam? He’s a therapist. He should be able to help!”

“I agree, but he’s off on a mission for the next month and we’re only a day in. Peter should definitely speak to him, but I’m worried about whether or not he’s gonna be able to hold out long enough to see him,” Steve responded worriedly.

Bucky noticed Steve’s frown and kissed his cheek.

“Hey... don’t worry. He’s got us. He’ll be fine,” Bucky said, rubbing Steve’s back comfortingly, “C’mon. It’s already four in the morning. Let’s get some sleep, okay doll?”

Steve chuckled lightly, “Doll? Really Buck? I’m not a dame.”

Bucky smiled sweetly and winked, “Nope. You’re mine, though.”

“And you call _me_ a sap,” Steve said, rolling his eyes, “We better get some sleep before you go completely soft on me.”

Bucky laughed good-naturedly, “Only for you, Stevie.”

Steve rolled his eyes and kissed Bucky sweetly before climbing into the bed next to Peter. Bucky mimicked his actions on Peter’s other side. The two Super-Soldiers wrapped themselves around the sleeping boy, smiling when Peter cuddled closer to the pair. They hoped with everything they had that the next day would be easier for their little spider, for his pain hurt them too. Finally, after being awake for almost 24 hours, the pair finally joined Peter in a deep, peaceful sleep. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I really end the chapter without a huge cliffhanger? Like seriously? Did I actually end the chapter on a good, somewhat peaceful note? Wow, I must be feeling REALLY nice today. 
> 
> Anywho...
> 
> I hope you guys liked it!! I have absolutely no idea as to what I should write next chapter so if you guys could comment suggestions as to what you want, that would be really helpful. The more comments/suggestions I get, the faster the next chapter is likely to come out. Kudos are greatly appreciated!!


	7. The Accidental Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony continues to remain blissfully ignorant, FRIDAY becomes irritated, Steve and Bucky continue to unknowingly act as Peter’s parents, and Peter and Harley develop slight crushes on each other over shawarma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been over two weeks since the last time I posted.....oops? I wrote almost 4,000 words to make up for it though!
> 
> Just a note, there are references to Avatar the Last Airbender, so if you haven't watched it, GO WATCH IT! (I mean you don't actually have to. The references aren't actually relevant to the story but the show is amazing and you NEED to watch it)
> 
> Also, I completely forgot that Harley had a Southern accent! He's always had one, I just forgot to write his dialogue with it. I hope that clears everything up!
> 
> Happy reading!!

* _beep beep beep*_

Bucky groaned, irritated. He blearily opened his eyes and looked over at the irritating clock. 

“7:30’s too damn early,” He groaned before unceremoniously hitting the top of the clock, effectively turning off the alarm. 

He flopped back down onto the bed and quickly fell into another blissfully peaceful sleep.  
  


_“Sergeant Barnes?”_

Bucky let out a muffled groan into his pillow, waving his hand at whatever the source of FRIDAY’s voice was.

_“Captain Rogers?”_

Steve pulled his pillow on top of his head, praying that FRIDAY would take the hint and leave him alone.

“Bucky?” Peter asked, nuzzling into his arms. 

Bucky opened his eyes to look at the young hero, but quickly closed them. He hissed at the bright sunlight that assaulted his vision. He blinked his eyes open, rubbing them tiredly.

“What’s up, Pete?” Bucky asked, yawning.

Peter chuckled tiredly, “FRI’s been asking for you and Steve for, like, ten minutes. Can you see what she wants so we can go back to sleep? Because Steve refuses to get up.”

Bucky let out a tired sigh and nodded, sitting up.

“What’s up FRI?”

“I apologize for waking you up, but I’m afraid Miss Romanoff has been insistent that I get a message from you. She said, ‘Bucky and Steve missed their morning run. I need a direct message from them to ensure that they haven’t been kidnapped,’ and refused to take video evidence as proof that you were merely sleeping in,” FRIDAY said, sounding about as tired as Bucky felt.

“You can tell her that we’re fine, FRI. Just tired from our late night adventure into the city,” He responded tiredly.

A minute later, FRIDAY responded, “She responded, ‘You better be prepared to tell me what that’s supposed to mean, Barnes.’”

Bucky rolled his eyes, flopping back onto the bed with a sigh. 

“Why on earth Natasha thought we were kidnapped is beyond my imagination. It can’t possibly be that late in the day,” Bucky muttered.

“It is currently 12:32 pm Seargent Barnes,” FRIDAY responded, a hint of amusement lacing her voice. 

Bucky’s eyes snapped open, as did Peter’s and Steve’s.

“Shit,” Steve muttered, “No wonder she thought we were kidnapped.”

“Language,” Bucky and Peter muttered at the same time, causing the trio to chuckle.

“You guys get up for your morning run at 8 am. No wonder she was so worried,” Peter giggled.

“Yeah, well after the night we had, I think we deserved to miss a day,” Steve said, yawning.

Peter’s smile quickly dissipated as he looked down at his lap. Bucky nudged Steve discreetly, immediately making the blonde super-soldier feel bad. 

“Hey… what happened wasn’t your fault, okay? You had a rough day and an even rougher night. I don’t blame you for what happened and neither does Bucky. Tony is being a complete ass to you, and I can’t even begin to imagine how that must feel. Especially since you saw him as a father figure. But, Pete, you have to remember all of the people that are still there for you: me, Buck, Tasha, May, Sam, Loki, Thor, Clint, Vision, Wanda, and Bruce. You even managed to make _Happy_ and _Deadpool_ like you, and that’s a hard thing to do. So even if Tony really _did_ choose Harley over you, you’ll still always have someone to lean on, okay?” Steve said gently, pulling the young hero into a hug. 

“Okay,” Peter choked out, trying not to cry for what felt like the hundredth time in the past 24 hours. 

Bucky wrapped his arms around the pair, trying to provide Peter as much comfort as he could. The trio stayed in their embrace for a few minutes while FRIDAY quietly seethed. Despite being an AI, she was capable of feeling emotions, just like Vision- previously JARVIS- and Karen. They regularly traded information to keep themselves up to date on the goings-on of the heroes and all three parties were furious at what Tony was putting Peter through. They were also extremely worried about the teen and didn’t want him to go through more pain.

After Bucky and Steve released Peter from the embrace, they got out of bed and began getting ready for their day. After they had finished, they left the room and headed to the elevator. FRIDAY took them down to the kitchen without question. The group was greeted by an empty room, save for Natasha, Bruce, and Loki. They appeared to be eating lunch and chatting idly.

“Hey, guys,” Peter said tiredly, walking out of the elevator.

The group looked up from their plates and smiled.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Bruce teased, smirking at the trio of tired men that were walking towards him.

“I do believe you mean afternoon, Dr. Banner,” Loki corrected, a light smirk gracing his face.

The trio laughed sheepishly.

“Yeah… we kind of had a late-night adventure that kept us up until four in the morning,” Bucky said, rubbing the back of his head.

Bruce and Loki looked at each other, eyebrows raised. They looked back at the super-soldiers, at Peter, and then at the couple once again.

“OH!” Bucky said in realization after a beat, “No! You guys, we _went out._ Like, into the _city_. We stayed there until around four.”

Peter and Steve turned bright red at the implication.

“Ew! Oh, my god! No! _Jesus_. That would be so wrong on so many levels. Steve and Bucky are like my….” Peter trailed off.

The super-soldiers looked at each other in confusion.

“Like your what, маленький паук?” Bucky asked confusedly.

Peter’s face somehow managed to turn an even brighter shade of red.

“Nothing, never mind. Anyway, I’m starving. What are you guys gonna eat?” He asked, quickly changing the subject.

The other occupants of the room noticed this but chose not to comment on it.

“I was thinking of omelets. You, Buck?” Steve responded after a minute of silence. 

Bucky nodded, “Me too, actually. You wanna make them while I make us some coffee?”

“I better. If you do it, we’ll be waiting to eat for three hours,” Steve teased, walking over to the coffee pot.

The rest of the group laughed good-naturedly. He had a point. Steve was always good at making quick, simple foods, while Bucky could spend hours working on cooking and perfecting the presentation of a single egg. The pair _could_ do it the other way if they needed to but preferred their methods as opposed to their partners.

“What are you gonna eat, Pete?” Natasha asked after the couple had walked into the kitchen. 

“Oh, I was gonna grab some Cinnamon Toast Crunch,” Peter responded nonchalantly.

Bruce cringed, “Sorry Pete, we’re out. Harley ate the last of it this morning. I actually just sent Clint out to get some more stuff, but he’s stuck in traffic right now. It’ll probably be a while before he gets back.”

“And that’s why I told you to send Vision. The guy can fly. He doesn’t need to wait for traffic,” Natasha said irritatedly.

Bruce sighed, “Sorry again Pete.”  
  


Peter shrugged, “I don’t blame him. The rest of the cereal in here is all gross and healthy. Can you text Clint to grab two boxes of it instead of one?” 

Bruce nodded, pulling out his phone. Peter grabbed a croissant, some butter, a few slices of ham and cheese, a few eggs, and some salt and pepper. He quickly made himself a breakfast sandwich next to Steve and laughed as he flipped the omelets extravagantly. 

Once the pair was finished cooking, they plated their food and loaded the dishwasher with the dirty pans. Peter made himself some coffee (sugar and milk with a single drop of coffee) and sat down with the couple. Natasha, Bruce, Loki, Steve, and Bucky all looked at the young hero like he was insane.

“What?” Peter mumbled around a mouthful of his sandwich.

“Pete, that drink can’t even be considered coffee with how much milk and sugar you put in it!” Steve exclaimed.

Peter shrugged, swallowing, “I hate how bitter coffee is, so I load it up with cream and sugar. Besides, you guys don’t want to see what happens when I drink more coffee than this.”

The group laughed, shaking their heads. Bruce, Loki, and Natasha finished eating their respective lunches with the trio, chatting idly. Once everyone had finished their food, they headed over to the living room. Content on finally getting a break after his stressful week, Peter flopped down on the couch between Loki and Bruce.

“Hey FRI? Can you put on Avatar the Last Airbender for me? As long as that’s good with you guys?” Peter asked.

Everyone either nodded or shrugged, being fine with the idea of watching the show. Peter snuggled between the men, sighing happily when Loki wrapped his arms around him. Bruce lifted Peter’s feet and placed them in his lap, allowing him to lay down completely. Despite the fact that laying down completely meant that Peter’s head was literally in the lap of the god of mischief, he felt comfortable in the position. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Peter fell asleep quickly. He found comfort in feeling the thin, delicate fingers thread themselves through his hair, and couldn’t help but pass out.

After a few minutes of silence, Natasha had affirmed that the sleeping teen would stay asleep as long as the group was quiet. After voicing her thoughts, she asked Bucky and Steve what happened the night before.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story,” Steve said, hesitating.

The last thing he wanted was for Peter to wake up in the middle of the story and get unnecessarily embarrassed.

“I could ensure that Peter will stay sleeping until after we’re done talking with magic if you’d like,” Loki said after a minute of silence.

The group glanced at each other, unsure of whether or not that was a good idea. 

“It won’t hurt him, will it?” Bruce asked after a few seconds of tense silence.

Loki raised his eyebrow.

“If I wanted him hurt, it would’ve happened already. He is literally asleep in my lap, and his head and neck are right next to my hand. I wouldn’t have offered it if doing so would hurt him. I may be the god of lies, but I almost exclusively tell the truth when it comes to him. Don’t forget, I want the same thing you do: whatever’s best for Peter,” Loki said, almost sounding hurt at the accusation.

Bruce realized this, and quickly amended, “I didn’t mean it like that. I know how much you care about him. I’m just worried. Besides, what happens if he gets stuck in a nightmare and can’t get out because of your spell?”

Loki considered this for a moment before answering, “I know a spell that will keep his mind calm. As long as he’s under it, his dreams will be peaceful.”

The group seemed to accept this answer and nodded at the god. Loki gently placed his hand on the sleeping hero’s head, and the group watched as Peter’s head glowed a light blue color. A gentle smile briefly appeared on his face as he shifted, settling into a more comfortable position. Loki nodded the group, assuring them that it had worked.

“Alright, now are you two gonna tell me what the hell happened last night?” Natasha sharply asked Steve and Bucky.

The pair sighed, not wanting to say anything. It felt wrong to tell the group what happened without Peter’s consent, but it needed to be done.

“You guys know how Pete left movie night early last night?” Steve asked tiredly.

Natasha, Bruce, and Loki nodded. They missed the teen’s presence immensely but understood why he left.

“Well,” Bucky continued, “He had a nightmare. A really bad one. Apparently all of us- and by us, I mean everyone who cares about Peter other than May, Happy, and Deadpool- turned on him. Yelling at him that he was a waste of space and worthless. That he was a terrible hero and person that would never deserve the love that we give him. Of course, it’s a complete load of bullshit, but he didn’t know that. It must’ve been a very realistic dream because he freaked out when we saw us. Put on his suit and jumped out the window before we could talk to him.”

“We waited for an hour for him to come back,” Steve continued, giving Bucky a break, “We knew that he needed some space and let him clear his head. When he didn’t come back, we went after to make sure that he was alright. Apparently, he forgot that his tracker was turned off and that his ‘Do Not Disturb’ was on because every time we tried calling him, it went straight to voicemail. We spent hours trying to get his location. It turned on sometime at around 3 am.”

Bucky sighed, “Apparently he went out on patrol with Deadpool and lost track of time. He was so exhausted when we found him that Steve had to carry him back to the car. He fell asleep almost immediately after getting in. We had to carry him inside too.”

Silence filled the room as Natasha, Bruce, and Loki processed the information they had heard. They were looking at Peter worriedly, wishing that they could’ve comforted him.

“He knows none of that’s true, right? He has to know that we would never do what Stark is doing to him. We all love him so much. I swear, I ought to kill Tony in his sleep,” Natasha fumed.

“I’d be more than happy to help,” Loki said, glaring at the wall. 

“Speaking of Tony, where is he?” Bruce asked.

Yet again, Tony and Harley were working steadily in the lab. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any explosions (yet) and the pair had managed to fall into a steady pace.

“Hey FRI? Can you order Harley and I some lunch?” Tony asked after seeing that it was almost one.

“What would you like?” FRIDAY asked in a clipped tone.

Tony looked over at Harley, “Any preference?”

Harley shrugged, not really caring what Tony got one way or another.

“Chicken Shawarma for both of us. Two Cokes and seasoned fries. Anything else, Harley?” Tony asked.

Harley pondered for a moment, “Make it an order for three? There’s someone I owe an apology to and I’ve found that forgiveness comes easier with food.”

Tony looked at him quizzically but shrugged and put in the order nonetheless. 

“Where would you like the order sent?” FRIDAY asked, a sharp tone lacing her voice.

“I’ll get it!” Harley quickly interjected before Tony could say anything.

Tony raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

“Send an alert when the food comes?” Harley asked.

“Of course,” FRIDAY answered warmly.

Tony, oblivious as always, didn’t question FRIDAY’s coldness towards him and went back to work. The pair fell back into their steady pace at around the same time that Loki finally lifted the spell, allowing Peter to wake up.

The young hero opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the sleep. He yawned, snuggling into the god and scientist. The surrounding heroes chuckled, smiling at the teen’s sleepy state. Loki ran his fingers through Peter’s hair, moving it away from his face. Bruce lightly massaged his feet, trying to comfortably wake up the sleepy spider. 

“Have a good nap?” Natasha asked quietly.

“Mhmm,” Peter mumbled, smiling contently.

Peter shifted and opened his eyes, looking up at Loki.

“Morning, little one,” Loki murmured fondly.

Peter smiled at the God, blushing lightly.

“Sorry for falling asleep on you guys,” Peter apologized, sitting up.

Bruce and Loki laughed lightly.

“It’s okay, Pete. Trust me, we don’t mind,” Bruce said, chuckling.

Peter put his feet down on the ground and sat up on the couch, smiling at the surrounding heroes. He turned his attention back to the TV, which was still playing Avatar. Loki wrapped his arm around Peter and followed his gaze, watching the show once more. The rest of the group followed suit, contentedly watching Katara finally be trained by Master Paku. While the next episode was loading, an alert reverberated through the tower.

“Harley, your food is here,” FRIDAY said loudly.

Harley dropped his wrench and ran to the elevator, yelling a quick “Thanks FRIDAY!” 

Tony quirked his eyebrow and chuckled. 

_Harley must be really hungry_.

Once he had the food, Harley walked back into the elevator.

“Hey FRIDAY?” He asked, almost timidly, “Can ya drop me back down to the lab really quick? I’m gonna give Tony his food.”

“Of course,” FRIDAY responded, taking the teen back up to the lab.

Once he arrived at the entrance to the lab, he placed his hand on the scanner and opened the door.

“Hey, Tony?” He asked after placing the food down, “Do ya mind if I take a break and eat in my room? I’ll be back later, I promise.”

Tony raised his eyebrow, and responded, “Sure. Just don’t make too much of a mess, okay?” 

Harley chuckled, “Okay, _Dad_.”

He walked out of the lab and into the elevator.

“Hey FRIDAY? Can you take me to my room and ask Peter to meet me there? Discreetly? ” Harley asked politely.

“Of course, Harley. He should be there shortly after receiving the message. "

As soon as Harley reached his room, FRIDAY sent Peter a text.

_‘Your presence has been requested from the penthouse.’_

Peter stared at his phone confusedly.

_Isn’t Mr. Stark in the lab? Who could possibly be ‘requesting my presence’ from the_ penthouse?

Peter shrugged and stood up, earning questioning looks from the surrounding heroes.

“I’m gonna go grab something from my room,” He said quietly. 

Everyone seemed to accept this and went back to watching Aang defend the Northern Water Tribe. Peter walked into the elevator and stared at his phone. Once the short trip ended, he walked out into the hallway. He knocked on the open door, and was greeted with a “Come in!”. Peter pushed the door open to find Harley sitting on the edge of his bed. There appeared to be some kind of takeout next to him. 

“Hey. You wanna come sit?” Harley asked.

Peter nodded warily and sat across from the teen.

“What’s this?” He asked, gesturing to the bag.

“Tony wanted to order some lunch. I couldn’t tell you what it is, but it smells pretty good. Shawna or somethin’? You wanna help me eat it?” Harley asked cheerfully.

“Uh…. sure, I guess?” Peter said, unsure of the situation.

Harley took the wraps out of the bag and laid them out on the bed. He grabbed the coke-filled cups and gave one to Peter. He put a metal straw through each of the lids, causing Peter to raise his eyebrow.

Harley shrugged, simply responding, “Save the turtles.”

Peter snickered lightly and smiled when the (slightly) younger teen sat across him. 

“Oh! Shawarma!” Peter exclaimed after removing the wrap from its packaging. 

“Yeah, that,” Harley responded, peeling the wrapper away from the wrap.

Peter went to take a bite but hesitated and closed his mouth.

“Why’d you invite me up here?” He asked curiously.

_Let me guess, to tease me about how he got a room in the freaking penthouse and how I ended up staying with Bucky and Steve? To tell me about how much better he is than me? Brag about how much time he gets to spend with Tony?_

“I wanted to apologize,” Harley responded sheepishly.

Peter looked at him with wide eyes, surprised.

“For what?”

“I shouldn’ta talked to you the way I did at the lab. I just didn’t want you to get hurt by going over to that area. I accidentally caused an explosion, and the acid burned through my shirt. That was why I had to borrow Tony’s. I definitely could’a gone about warning you in a better way, but I didn’t think about it until after I said what I did. I’ve found that food helps with apologies, so I thought I’d get you some lunch,” Harley admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Oh,” Peter answered dumbly, “It’s fine. I was more surprised than anything.”

“Great!” Harley exclaimed happily, “Now that we got that all cleared up, you wanna eat? ‘Cuz the smell of the food is making my mouth water, and if we wait too long, the fries’ll go cold.”

“Uh… sure,” Peter responded, still feeling weird about the whole situation.

Harley took his first bite and groaned at the taste. Peter blushed lightly and turned away, taking a bite of his own.

“This is _amazin’_. No wonder it was Tony’s first choice,” Harley said after chewing his first mouthful.

Peter’s eyes drifted down to his lap as he swallowed, trying to ignore the comment. The mention of his mentor made him almost completely lose his appetite.

“You know, I think-” Peter started, intent on saying that he should leave.

“We should watch a movie!” Harley exclaimed, cutting the young hero off. 

Peter blinked, surprised.

“What?”

“As much as I’d love to get to know you, I’m not gonna do it with my mouth full. I figure if we watch one of your favorite movies and then one of mine, we can get to know each other that way,” Harley responded lightly.

Peter snorted, sipping his coke.

“You make it sound like we’re on a date.”

“Aren’t we?”

Peter choked on his drink and nearly spat it out.

“I’m kiddin’, I’m kiddin’. Jeez, don’t have a fit,” Harley chuckled, patting Peter’s back.

“I’m fine,” Peter croaked after his coughing ceased.

“Here,” Harley said, guiding Peter’s body so that it was sitting back against the pillows, “Relax.”

Harley’s face was inches away from Peter’s as his hand lightly pushed on the hero’s chest. Peter unknowingly took this as an opportunity to study Harley’s features. He had thin, pink lips and a cute button nose. He loved the way Harley’s scattered freckles lightly graced his cheeks. His brown, curly hair framed his face perfectly, and his cheeks were dusted with the light shade of pink. His ocean-blue eyes glittered with amusement and seemed to sparkle when they met Peter’s. Harley raised his hand to wipe some tahini off of the corner of Peter’s lip, and both of their breaths caught when his hand cupped the older teen's face. 

Peter wasn’t the only one to unknowingly study the other’s features, as Harley noticed how Peter’s wavy chestnut hair perfectly accented his face. He noticed the way a light pink blush graced his cheeks, and the way his chocolate brown eyes shone upon meeting his own. He marveled at how soft Peter’s skin was. Peter’s blush deepened as he thought of how gently Harley’s calloused fingers brushed his cheek.

Harley moved impossibly closer to the older teen and felt his breath hitch with Peter’s. Their eyes locked as they moved forward, stealing glances at the other’s lips. Peter’s heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest, and he could feel Harley’s trying to do the same.

Their eyes fluttered shut, and they leaned forward. Closer and closer until….

_Knock, knock_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!
> 
> I know, I know, I'm sorry. But to be honest, not having one makes it hard to start the next chapter. It's one of the reasons why it took me so long to get this chapter out!
> 
> In case anyone forgot, маленький паук - Little Spider
> 
> Sorry again for taking so long again 😅. The next chapter will definitely be easier for me to write and take less time.
> 
> Also you guys, can we appreciate the fact that it took me six chapters and over ten thousand to describe a single day? I hope y'all are ready for a long ride because this fic is gonna take a while to finish.
> 
> Please leave a kudos if you like the story and comment if you have a suggestion or see a mistake. Love you guys!
> 
> (Credit to Dirtylilsecret for giving me the idea to make FRIDAY angry at Tony!)


	8. The Accidental "Date": Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony interrupts Harley and Peter’s moment, Peter doubts himself, and the pair take a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I took way too long to post this chapter 😅. Sorry about that you guys, but I promise the next chapter won't take nearly as long. Cross my heart!
> 
> I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a huge fan of this chapter. I kinda feel weird about the whole thing, but I've been reassured that its just me and that the chapter's fine, so I'm posting it anyway. I hope you guys like it!
> 
> Happy reading everyone!

_Last Chapter:_

_Harley moved impossibly closer to the older teen and felt his breath hitch with Peter’s. Their eyes locked as they moved forward, stealing glances at the other’s lips. Peter’s heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest, and he could feel Harley’s trying to do the same._

_Their eyes fluttered shut, and they leaned forward. Closer and closer until…._

Knock, knock. 

~~~

The pair sprang apart quickly, their faces heating.

“Harley?” Tony asked, his voice muffled by the door.

“Yeah?” Harley responded, praying that his voice wouldn’t crack.

“Can I come in, kiddo?” Tony asked softly.

Peter balled his hands into fists and looked away from the door, something that Harley didn’t miss.

“Uh… I’m a little busy right now. What’s up?” Harley said, ignoring the surprised look Peter gave him, obviously not expecting the response.

“I could use some help in the lab. I’m working on a surprise for someone and only you, me, and Bruce can know about it. I can get Bruce if you’re busy, but I’d really like to show you what I’m working on,” Tony said quietly.

While his quieted voice was heavily muffled by the door, both teens heard the man with perfect clarity.

Peter’s hands clenched tighter as his blurred gaze fell back to the ground, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

_Of course, he’d choose Harley over me. Why would he trust me with a secret when he has him? He’s perfect._

Harley noticed Peter’s reaction and tried to diffuse the situation.

“I’m a little busy. What about your other intern, Peter?” Harley asked.

Peter looked at Harley, his glistening eyes widening in surprise. 

_Why would he….?_

“I wanted this to be something for just the two of us. Bruce is just in on it to make sure that if you blow up the lab again, we won’t die,” Tony said, chuckling.

Harley looked at Peter, who’s fists were shaking at how hard he was clenching them. Peter was looking away from the door, and his tears were barely concealed behind his red eyes and downcast gaze. 

“Sorry Tony, I haven’t finished my food yet and I’m kinda tired. D’ya mind if I just stay here until it’s time for dinner?” Harley said, trying to get the older hero to leave.

“Whatever you want, kid,” Tony said before walking off.

Harley turned to Peter, who looked seconds away from either crying or punching something. Harley looked ashamed of himself as he sat with Peter in silence.

“I should go,” Peter said after a few minutes of tense silence.

“Peter...” Harley trailed off sadly.

“Look, I’m sorry but I don’t think I can stay,” Peter said coldly.

He plastered a fake smile on his face, muttered a quiet goodbye, and grabbed his food. He got up and began to walk out of the room.

“Wait!” Harley said, grabbing his free hand.

Peter froze.

_Oh my god._

“Look, I’m sorry about what Tony said. That was rude a’ him, and he shouldn’ta said that the way he did. Look, if you _really_ want to go, I’ll let you, but I really wish you’d stay,” Harley pleaded.

Peter tried to keep his eyes on the ground, but couldn’t help sneak a glance at Harley’s puppy eyes.

_Damn those gorgeous blue eyes of his._

Peter sighed resignedly, and said, “Fine.”

Harley lit up with joy half-dragged Peter back to the bed. Once the pair had settled, Harley asked FRIDAY to put on one of Peter’s favorite Disney movies.

“Would you like to watch Tangled, Aladdin, one of the many Star Wars movies in this collection, or Ratatouille?” She asked sweetly.

Peter sputtered at Harley.

“Surprise us, please,” Harley responded politely. 

“Harley?” Peter asked incredulously.

“Yeah?” He responded nonchalantly.

“I thought we were going to watch your favorite movies?” Peter half asked.

“I was thinkin’ we switch. We watch your favorite, then mine. First Disney, then comedy, then we go from there,” Harley responded smoothly.

Peter shrugged, “Alright.”

The pair ate their food absentmindedly as FRIDAY played Ratatouille. They made sure to savor and appreciate each bite the way Remy did. 

Around the time when Remy and Linguine were practicing in his apartment, the teens finished their food. Ever the gentlemen, Harley threw away Peter’s garbage along with his own. Peter smiled in gratitude. 

Once he returned to the bed, Harley gestured to Peter for him to get up. Peter looked at him quizzically but got up without question. Harley lifted the covers and slid under, scooching over to the other side of the bed. He held the blanket up for Peter, looking at him expectantly. Peter cautiously slid under, laying on the very edge of the bed. Harley noticed his reluctance but didn’t say anything, not wanting to push Peter any farther by making him uncomfortable.

Throughout the movie, Peter and Harley moved unconsciously closer to each other. By the time the scene where the staff at Gusteau’s left had passed, their shoulders were almost touching. Their hands inched closer and closer together as they watched Colette almost slap Linguine. While they stole glances at each other, both were reluctant to make the first move.

Finally, a little after Ego left the restaurant, Peter wrapped his pinky around Harley’s. Harley smiled and moved so that his arm was touching Peter’s, closing the space between them. He took Peter’s hand in his before turning his attention back to the movie. Peter felt a blush rising to his cheeks, but didn’t allow his expressions to reflect his actual feelings. Other than his blush, his face remained indifferent, something that contradicted his panicked thinking entirely.

_Aren’t we moving a little fast here? What does this all mean? Maybe he’s just a flirt. He probably doesn’t mean any of it. We’re just friends who heavily flirt. We just happen to be really comfortable around each other even though we’ve only known each other for a little over a day. Yeah. Totally. Friends. Friends who flirt… a lot._

Harley’s head fell on Peter’s shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. Peter looked down at him confusedly.

“Harley, what-” Peter started before quieting himself.

Peter looked down at Harley to see that he had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Peter smiled fondly at the sleeping brunette next to him. He lifted his hand to brush a fallen piece of hair out of Harley’s face, but quickly thought the better of it.

_I seriously need to stop. I should hate him for god’s sake!_

Peter’s face formed an irritated grimace as he thought of the many ways Tony had brushed him aside since Harley’s arrival, but it melted into a soft smile as he peered down at Harley’s sleeping face. 

_It’s not his fault Tony prefers him to me. After all, he’s perfect. His accent. Those_ eyes _. His hair. That beautiful brain of his, and his sweet personality. Who am I kidding here? I’d prefer him too. He’s ten times better than I could ever be._

Peter’s self-deprecating thoughts were interrupted once again, but this time it was by his own yawn. He gently laid Harley down on his pillow before laying himself down next to him. He quickly joined Harley in a peaceful nap, blissfully unaware of the events soon to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor cliffhanger but hey! At least it wasn't NEARLY as bad as some of the last ones. Anyway, please leave a kudos if you liked the story! Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment if you have a suggestion or see a mistake. Love you guys!


	9. The Wake-Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony wakes Parley up, Peter fixes Harley’s hair, and Harley freaks out because he’s going to have dinner with the freaking Avengers (who seem to hate him for some unknown reason). It’s literally just more fluff and angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Guess who finally took less than two weeks to post! Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you guys are. I'm going to try and post on a weekly basis, but I can't promise anything. Especially with me going back to school, it could be anywhere from a week to a month before I post. Please be patient with me if that's the case! I hope you guys like this chapter! 
> 
> Happy Reading!

**_Knock, Knock, Knock._ **

Peter groaned, nuzzling into his pillow.

_**Knock, Knock, Knock.** _

His pillow let out a sound of annoyance as Peter snuggled closer and- wait a minute.

_Pillows don’t move._

Peter’s eyes snapped open. He peered up at Harley’s mildly annoyed face, which was so close to Peter’s that he could feel his even breathing.

**_Knock, Knock, Knock._ **

Harley let out another irritated groan, wishing that whoever was knocking would leave him alone.

**_“Harley? It’s time for dinner.”_ **

At hearing Tony’s voice, Harley’s eyes snapped open. He was immediately met with Peter’s shy gaze and smiled. However, upon realizing the nature of their position, his cheeks turned bright red.

“Sorry, Tony. I fell asleep,” Harley responded sheepishly, trying to gently untangle his limbs from Peter’s.

“I’m not overworking you, am I? If you want, I can give you a few days off. Bruce and I can get our project started while you relax,” Tony said apologetically, hoping he wasn’t the reason that Harley sounded exhausted.

Peter looked away and tried to avoid Harley’s gaze. Being blatantly left out of something was really beginning to get to him, but he really didn’t want Harley to know that. Harley, still wrapped around Peter, frowned at the downcast hero in his arms. 

He hugged him reassuringly, and responded, “Naw, I’m fine. A few days off does sound nice, though. I’d love to get to know the rest of the team better. Maybe then they won’t hate me as much.”

Peter opened his mouth to reassure Harley that the team didn’t hate him, but was cut off by Tony.

“That’s fine, kid. I’m sure they don’t hate you, they probably just don’t know you well enough to trust you yet. Now, Steve and Bucky just started making shrimp alfredo so you’ve got a good hour before you need to be ready, okay?”

“Alright,” Harley responded simply.

He waited for Tony to walk off before saying, “We should probably go get ready.”

Peter sighed, not wanting to let go of the handsome brunette. 

“I guess,” He said, waiting for Harley to let go of him.

Harley did so reluctantly, trying to stay in the intimate hold for as long as he could. After untangling his legs from Peter’s, he moved to unwrap his arms from their place around the young spider. Peter frowned and looked away, not wanting to leave the embrace. Harley kissed his cheek quickly in an effort to cheer him up before withdrawing his arms completely. He sat up, willing the blush heating his cheeks to leave, and got out of the bed. Peter, bright red, followed him out.

Peter walked up to Harley’s full-length mirror and chuckled when he saw the state he was in.

“I’m a mess,” he said, straightening his clothes and fixing his hair.

Harley followed him over, and quipped, “If you’re a mess, what’s that make me?”

Peter’s eyes drifted to Harley’s reflection and snickered. His hair was comparable to that of a porcupine’s quills, and his wrinkled clothes looked as though he had just run a marathon. Harley got to work fixing his ruffled state, but for the life of him, he could not get his hair to sit straight.

Shaking his head, Peter swatted Harley’s hand away from his hair and fixed it himself. He combed his finger’s through the taller boy’s disheveled hair, gently unknotting it. 

“There,” Peter said, untangling his fingers from Harley’s unbelievably soft, somewhat settled hair. 

Harley smiled softly, and responded, “Thanks.”

Peter shrugged nonchalantly and returned the smile. A few minutes later, FRIDAY alerted the pair that dinner was ready. 

“You ready?” Peter asked, smiling sympathetically at Harley, who was fidgeting nervously.

“Not really,” Harley muttered anxiously.

Peter chuckled softly and placed his hand on Harley’s shoulder reassuringly.

“You’ll be fine, I promise. Even if the team did hate you, which they don’t, they would never do anything in front of me. Something about ‘preserving my innocence’. As long as you stay with me, everything’ll be fine,” Peter reassured jokingly.

Peter let go of Harley’s shoulder and guided him towards the door. He opened it, motioning for Harley to lead the way. Harley audibly swallowed, trying to hide his anxiety. As the pair walked to the elevator, Harley’s breathing rate began to rise. Peter noticed this and grabbed Harley’s rough, sweaty hand. He squeezed it lightly in an attempt to comfort him. 

Harley, who was usually confident in these types of situations, was extremely grateful that Peter wasn’t laughing at him. Going into movie night, Tony assured him that the team would love him and was therefore fine with the idea of meeting them. Now that Harley knew that the team didn’t like him, the thought of having dinner with them was terrifying. After all, the Avengers were made of assassins, spies, and fighters of all kinds. If he pissed them off, they could kill him before he got a chance to apologize.

Harley’s expression and body must’ve mimicked his panicked thoughts because suddenly he was on the floor and Peter was engulfing him in a tight hug, whispering reassurances in his ear. 

Unbeknownst to the pair, FRIDAY had alerted the team that Harley was in a state of distress. Tony had left to get Bruce from the lab, but the rest of the Avengers were hanging out in the kitchen. When Steve asked what FRIDAY was talking about, he was shown a hologram of Harley sitting on the floor of the elevator with a terrified expression on his face as Peter held him, trying his best to comfort his panicked crush. The team looked at the footage with horrified expressions as they heard Harley’s panicked whimpering.

_“They hate me! You saw how they acted around me at movie night last night! What happens if I say something wrong and piss ‘em off? They’re literally the_ Avengers _! Half of ‘em could kill me without liftin' a finger!”_

_“Harley, they’re not gonna hurt you! They don’t hate you, I promise. Besides, Mr. Stark and I would_ never _let them hurt you, okay?”_

_Harley seemed to accept this and took a few shuddering breaths, trying to calm himself down. Peter, who was still hugging Harley as tightly as he could, rubbed his back in a manner that he prayed was comforting._

At seeing Harley calm down, FRIDAY cut the feed. This snapped everyone out of their horrified trance. 

“Oh my god,” Steve whispered remorsefully, disgusted with himself.

“We’re hurting him the same way Tony’s hurting Peter,” Natasha said distressedly, regretting the way she treated the teen.

“He does not deserve to be punished for Stark’s mistakes,” Thor said regretfully, “We _must_ treat him respectfully tonight.”

“No,” Bucky interjected, “Screw respectfully. We need to treat him like _family_. After what just happened, that’s the _least_ he deserves.”

The group agreed remorsefully, hoping that they could right this horrible wrong.

Once Harley’s breathing calmed down, Peter stood up and offered his hand to Harley. He took the outstretched hand and let Peter help him up. They walked out of the elevator hand in hand, and into Harley’s current worst nightmare: dinner with the Avengers.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. I need to chill out on the angst, but I couldn't help myself! And c'mon, let's be honest. The team needed this to get their act together. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Anyway, please leave a kudos if you liked the story! Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment if you have a suggestion or see a mistake! Love you guys!


	10. Dinner With The Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Peter helps Harley through his first-ever dinner with the Avengers, the team feels bad for the way they treated Harley, Tony almost gets murdered by the team for like the twentieth time in the past two days, Natasha subtly teases Peter about his crush on Harley, and the team tries to lift Thor’s hammer (again).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So this chapter is the longest yet at over 4,500 words. Oops? I'm a little sad that I have to update because without this chapter, the fic was exactly 16969 words long and I didn't even do on purpose 😂
> 
> Anyway.....
> 
> Happy Reading!

  
When Harley and Peter approached the entrance to the dining room, Peter asked, “You ready?”

Harley shakily nodded and let go of Peter’s hand, running it through his hair nervously.

“Harley! You just messed up your hair! Come here. Let me just-” Peter reprimanded fondly, automatically moving to fix Harley’s hair.

Harley gave Peter a lopsided smile as he stepped closer to Peter and leaned down slightly. Peter threaded his fingers through Harley’s hair once again, fixing his unruly locks. 

“There,” Peter said, removing his hand from Harley’s head and letting it drop to his side once more.

He looked down from Harley’s hair to see his face inches from his own once again, causing both of their breaths to hitch. Harley’s eyes met his, and Peter was practically assaulted with an unexpected intensity that radiated from his gaze. His mouth immediately went dry as Harley’s gaze fell to his lips. His eyes instinctively traveled down to the taller boy’s lips, glancing at them briefly. Without realizing it, the teens had been moving closer, and closer, and-

Natasha cleared her throat bemusedly from behind the pair.

“Are you two gonna go in? Or.…?” Natasha asked, trying her hardest to stifle her laughter.

Peter turned bright red but, ignored it in favor of worrying about the way the color drained from Harley’s face.

Natasha noticed this, and gently said, “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”

Harley, his eyes wide, gulped and said, “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Just Natasha’s fine. C’mon in before Thor eats everything,” she said, a comforting smile gracing her face.

Harley gave her a tight smile and nodded. Natasha internally frowned at how tense Harley was but, realized that he still had to face the rest of the Avengers and sympathetically smiled at him. She led Peter and Harley into the dining room, where the Avengers were sitting. The only exceptions were Tony, who was looking for Bruce, and Steve and Bucky, who were cooking.

Thor, who was sitting at the end of the table, was chatting with Clint and Loki. They were sitting on either side of him, and heatedly debating about which of the Avengers would be able to pick up the hammer. Vision, Wanda, and Carol were sitting next to them and listened intently, looking at the animated trio amusedly. Natasha walked over and sat next to Loki, who was heatedly insisting that Peter could lift Mjölnir. Peter followed bemusedly, sitting next to her while shaking his head.

“I don’t think I could lift Thor’s hammer if I tried,” Peter chuckled, gesturing for Harley to sit next to him.

After sitting down, he responded, “I’d bet ya could.”

“Me too,” Natasha chimed in with a smirk. 

“Me three,” Carol added with a smile.

“Me four!” Wanda said, smiling brightly, “Vision?”

“I do believe it’s possible,” Vision said with a small smirk, something that caused Peter’s face to turn bright red.

“Guys-” Peter started, fighting the blush heating his face.

“I see no reason why we cannot test it after dinner,” Thor stated, swinging his hammer for emphasis.

The group looked at Peter expectantly, waiting for his answer.

“Alright, fine. But I want _all_ of us to try lifting it,” Peter said, reassuring himself that if he wasn’t the only one to not be able to lift it, he wouldn’t look weak.

Everyone agreed with either a shrug or a nod, seeing no harm in trying. A silence fell upon the group as Tony and Bruce walked in.

“Hey, guys. What’s up?” Tony asked cheerfully.

“We were talkin’ about seeing who could lift Thor’s hammer after dinner,” Harley responded eagerly.

His smile quickly fell as Natasha’s smile was replaced with an irritated grimace and the color from Peter’s face drained.

“Oh, I doubt that’s changed any from the last time we tried. Other than Thor and Vision, Cap was the only one to even get close,” Tony responded, chuckling.

“Actually, Peter, Natasha, Loki, Carol, Harley, and Wanda have yet to try lifting it,” Bruce reminded him.

“Really? Huh,” Tony said, scratching his head.

He completely forgot that half of the Avengers had yet to pick up the hammer, but doubted that anyone would be able to do it. After all, the only people who had ever been able to lift it weren’t even human. Vision was partly AI and Thor was Asgardian. What human could ever pick up the hammer?

Tony ignored his thoughts as he sat down next to Bruce at the end of the table, smiling at the group in front of him. Tony opened his mouth to ask who everyone thought could lift Thor’s hammer but, was interrupted by Peter telling the group that he was going to go see if Steve and Bucky needed any help.

“I’ll go with him,” Natasha said, standing up quickly.

The group chatted absentmindedly as Peter and Natasha walked into the kitchen.

“You two need any help?” Natasha asked as she watched Steve make an extremely large salad.

“No, but you should probably put those breadsticks in the oven if you want it to be done in time. You’re welcome for preheating it by the way,” Bucky smirked, stirring the huge pot of boiling fettuccine. 

“Дерьмо!” Natasha swore, realizing that she almost let the dough overproof.

“Garlic bread, мама паук?” Peter asked hopefully, a bright smile lighting up his face. 

“Yep,” Natasha said with a smirk. “I know it’s your favorite, even though most spiders hate garlic.”

“And mint! But it really just depends on the day. If my senses are in overdrive, I’m really sensitive to it. If it’s a normal day, I’m fine with it,” Peter responded with a shrug.

She nodded understandingly and walked over to where the dough was sitting on the counter, Peter trailing closely behind her. He quickly opened the oven and watched as she carefully placed the baking tray into the oven. As Natasha closed the oven, she asked FRIDAY to set a timer for 15 minutes.

“Timer’s been set. Anything else?” FRIDAY asked cheerfully.

“That’s it! Thanks, FRIDAY,” Natasha responded, a content smile gracing her face.

She turned to Peter, and asked, “You wanna help Bucky with the alfredo while I grab the peach cobbler?”

“You made _peach cobbler_?” Peter asked in awe.

“ _Making_ ,” Natasha corrected with a chuckle, “I finished putting it together a little while ago. I just left it in the fridge while I was waiting for the dough to finish proving.”

“Ohh, okay! I can go help Bucky, yeah,” Peter said, walking over to the sink, where Bucky was draining the pasta. 

“What can I help with?” Peter asked him cheerfully.

Bucky considered this for a moment while running cold water over the pasta.

“Can you cook the shrimp while I make the sauce?” Bucky asked, already starting on the alfredo.

Peter nodded eagerly. Cooking the shrimp was fairly easy. All it needed was a little oil, some parsley, and a watchful eye. By the time Peter had gathered the ingredients, Natasha had returned from her search for the peach cobbler. 

She took the breadsticks out of the oven and placed them on the cooling rack. After she removed her oven mitts from her hands, she turned up the oven’s temperature and asked FRIDAY to alert her when it was done preheating.

“Of course,” FRIDAY responded cheerfully.

“Thanks, FRI,” Natasha responded, walking over to where Peter was supposed to be paying attention to the shrimp.

“How’s it look, мама паук?” Peter asked distantly.

Natasha smirked, “Like they’re about to burn.”

“Shoot!” Peter exclaimed, earning a good-natured chuckle from Bucky and Natasha.

He quickly flipped the shrimp, letting out a breath of relief that he hadn’t burned it in his distracted state.

“What’s on your mind, маленький паук?” Natasha whispered with a chuckle.

“No one! I mean, uh, nothing!” Peter responded unconvincingly, his voice cracking.

Natasha raised her eyebrow, unimpressed, but mildly amused at the blatant lie. 

“Mhmm,” Natasha said with a smirk, “Well, whoever it is, you better stop thinking about them before you burn the shrimp.”

Peter blushed but remained silent, turning his attention back to the nearly-cooked shrimp. 

A few minutes later, Peter added the shrimp to the alfredo and watched as Bucky stirred it in. Peter grabbed the drained fettuccine and handed it to Steve, who poured it into the pot while Bucky coated it with the alfredo. Once the pasta was fully coated in the sauce, Bucky divided it into two separate dishes. Peter did the same with the salad as Natasha brushed the warm breadsticks with garlic butter. 

Once all of the food was divided into half making it easier to get from either side of the table, the group brought it out. Steve carried the salad and the dressings, Natasha brought out the breadsticks, and Peter and Bucky each brought out a bowl filled with pasta. They placed the bowls on opposite sides of the table and sat down with the eagerly chatting group. Peter returned to his seat next to Harley, Natasha gracefully sitting down next to him. Bucky and Steve sat across the trio, between Wanda and Bruce. As soon as everyone was settled in their seats, the group began filling their plates. Everyone complimented Natasha, Peter, Steve, and Bucky on the amazing food.

“These sticks of bread are worthy of Valhalla!” Thor exclaimed cheerfully.

“I agree,” Loki added with a calm smile. 

Everyone at the table made sounds of agreement. Natasha opened her mouth to respond, but was quickly cut off by FRIDAY’s alarm ringing through the room. 

“I’ll be right back,” Natasha said, getting up and running over to the kitchen. As she placed the unbaked cobbler into the oven, the group continued to devour the food on their plates. 

When Natasha came back, she announced, “Don’t forget to save room for dessert!” 

Everyone nodded, more than happy to save room for whatever Natasha was baking. The group went back to chatting idly as they ate, mostly asking Harley about his life and interests, and how he met Tony. At first, Harley’s answers were stiff. He was terrified of upsetting the group but, after a few minutes of talking, he calmed down enough to answer their questions without stuttering.

“I was ten, he broke into my garage, and I tried shooting him with a potato gun.”

“Wait a minute,” Peter interrupted, “A _potato_ gun?”

Harley smirked, “Yep. And a damn good one at that. Anyway, I asked him about the arc reactor, he told me it was an electromagnet. We talked ‘bout some more stuff and then I asked him if his suit was Iron Man.”

“And I said that technically, I was- erm- am,” Tony interjected.

“Hush you, _I’m_ the one tellin’ this story,” Harley said, gesturing for Tony to be quiet.

Tony rolled his eyes and smirked good-naturedly, but quieted, gesturing for Harley to continue.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Harley said dramatically, “I handed him a newspaper saying that he was presumed dead. But I was more interested in what happened to his suit than I was a newspaper headline. He told me he was a mechanic, and I told him that he should’a added retro-reflective panels to give the suit stealth mode. He agreed that it was a good idea. I accidentally broke the finger off the suit, but since I thought that the suit was a person, Tony told me that he was in pain and that I should leave him alone.”

This caused the group to snicker lightly. 

“Yeah, you thought my suit was a person. It was adorable, kid,” Tony said, smiling fondly.

Everyone agreed, causing Harley to blush.

He cleared his throat and resumed telling the story.

“I apologized for breakin’ the suit. Tony wasn’t too happy and snapped at me, but he got over it pretty quick. He asked me where my parents were and I told him that my ma had already left for work at the diner and that my dad went to 7/11 to get scratchers. I also told him that I assumed that he won because, at the time, it had been six years since he left,” Harley said, his chuckle slightly bitter.

Peter noticed this, and quietly took Harley’s hand under the table. He squeezed it gently, providing a discreet source of comfort for the younger teen. Well, as discrete as one could be with spies, super-humans, and aliens sitting around you. 

“Tony’s response was….” Harley trailed off, barely holding back a snicker.

Tony turned slightly red at that, “Yeah, that’s my bad.”

Harley chuckled, “It’s fine. I mean, I _did_ have to ask what it meant considerin’ that I was, ya know, _ten_.” 

Tony turned an even brighter shade of red, slapping his hand on his forehead and rubbing his temple. The team looked at Tony with confused expressions, wondering what he said. They looked at Harley for an answer, but were only met with a chuckle in response. 

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Harley chuckled. 

“Anyway,” he said, “Tony gave me this list a’ stuff he needed, and me bein’ me, I asked what was in it for me. He asked me what the name of the kid bullyin’ me was, much to my surprise. I never did give him that kid’s name, but he did give me something to help me with it. At first, he told me it was a piñata for a cricket as a joke, but then he told me that it was actually a dangerous weapon.”

“Wait a minute, Tony, you gave a dangerous weapon to a _ten-year-old?”_ Steve asked, horrified.

“Would you stop interrupting the kid so he can explain?” Tony asked exasperatedly.

Steve grumbled to himself, but quieted enough for Harley to continue.

“He told me to point it away from my face and press the button on top. And that it ‘Discourages Bullying’. That it was non-lethal, and- what was it?” Harley said, momentarily “forgetting” what Tony had told him.

“Something to cover one’s ass,” Tony quoted tiredly.

“Yeah. Anyway, after telling him we had a deal, he gave me the thing. And then _finally,_ after all of that, he asked me what my name was. When I asked what his was, he told me that he was ‘The Mechanic’:Tony. Probably because I said that he was gonna fix the suit like a mechanic. And then he told me that he wanted a sandwich, so I took him to town. He said he wanted a watch, so I gave him the only one I could find on short notice. He wasn’t too big a fan of my little sister’s Dora watch, but she was six at the time!” Harley trailed off, chuckling.

The other members at the table laughed lightly, snickering when Tony added that it was “limited edition”. 

“I started asking him a buncha’ questions I shouldn’ta asked. About New York, the Avengers. I still feel bad about it, but remember, I was ten. I didn’t have much of a filter when I was curious. Anyway, we got to this area where a guy named Chad Davis used to live. I said somethin’ about how he won medals in the army, went crazy, made a bomb, and blew himself up. Killed six people, himself included. But Tony noticed that there were only five bomb shadows, and not six. And then, I said somethin’ I really wish I could take back,” Harley trailed off, looking at Tony.

“The angel thing?” Tony asked confusedly.

“No,” Harley said somberly, “I asked Tony if he knew what the crater reminded him of. Even though he said that he didn’t know or care, I still kept going.”

“Oh,” Loki said with a frown, realizing exactly what Harley was talking about.

“What?” Bucky asked confusedly.

“I said it reminded me of what happened in New York,” Harley said, looking away from the group. 

As Peter squeezed his hand comfortingly, Harley continued, “For some reason, I just didn’t shut up. I really wish I did, but I just kept goin’ and goin’ and Tony got even more and more freaked out. Eventually, he calmed himself down. Me, being an idiotic ten-year-old, asked him what the hell had happened, and he just told me that it was my fault for ‘spazzin’ him out’. I feel bad now, but I didn’t really know what to do back then.”

“It’s okay, kid. I shouldn’t have put that on you,” Tony said, reaching over to pat Harley’s back.

Harley shrugged, and said, “It _was_ my fault. But at least now I know not to do anythin’ like that again. Anyway, Tony wanted to know about Davis’ family members, and I helped him get to where Mrs. Davis was. I don’t know what they talked about, but next thing I know I’m being held up by some bald guy whose skin was turning red. I still can’t believe that I let myself just get captured like that.”

“What’d I tell you? It wasn’t your fault, kid,” Tony reprimanded lightly.

Harley rolled his eyes and resumed the story.

“Whatever. Anyway, I fought and struggled as hard as I could, but I could only do so much. The guy wanted a file, I think. Tony asked me if I remembered what he said about bullies, remindin’ me about the thing he gave me. I took it outta my pocket, closed my eyes, and pressed it as hard as I could. I don’t even remember what it did. I was too busy runnin’ away. When Tony finally got out, I told him that he was welcome for savin’ his life. What was it you said?” 

“I said that I saved you first, kind of thanked you, and told you not to be a yutz. If you ever do someone a solid, just play it cool. Otherwise, you come off as grandiose,” Tony said, almost quoting himself perfectly. 

“Yeah. I said that you needed me and that we’re connected, and you said that you needed me to go home, to not say anythin’, guard the suit, and stay by the phone. He got into a car and I just kinda stayed there. I gotta admit, I didn’t want him to leave,” Harley said, looking at Tony embarrassedly.

Everyone cooed at Harley, save for Peter who didn’t want to embarrass the younger teen. 

“ _Anyway_ , he told me that he was sorry for leaving and that I did well. I tried my hardest to guilt-trip him into stayin’, but it wasn’t enough. What was it that I said?” Harley asked, feigning ignorance.

Tony sighed, “So now you’re just gonna leave me here, like my dad?”

Everyone either gave Harley a pitying look or Tony a withering glare, save for Peter who just squeezed Harley’s hand. 

“Eh, it’s alright. He _more_ than made up for it,” Harley said, quietly squeezing Peter’s hand back while smiling at those sitting around the table. 

“Tony said that he was sorry before realizin’ that I was guilt-tripping him. I told him that I was cold with the biggest puppy eyes I could muster. He said that he could tell. He asked me, ‘Do you know why I can tell?’”, Harley said, looking over at Tony, waiting for him to answer.

“Because we’re connected,” Tony said, trying to hide his face behind his hands.

“Because we’re connected,” Harley said in the most mockingly sweet voice he could, causing Peter to snicker.

“He drove off, and I didn’t hear from him until a little later. He called me and told me to start eating a _bunch_ of candy and hook up his suit to a computer and charge it through an outlet. I really don’t remember what I was doin’ before he called the second time. I was two or three bowls in by then, but he had me just keep goin’. He had me give the phone over to JARVIS, erm, Vision, now, I guess, while I found the location of Mandarin’s broadcast. When Tony asked me how his suit was doing after, I think I almost gave him a heart attack by sayin’ it wasn’t chargin’. To be fair, I didn’t think it was.” Harley said, slightly embarrassed, “I kinda sent him into another spiral, but by some miracle, I was able to calm him down. I asked him if he was a mechanic, he said yeah, I told him to just build something, and apparently it worked. I didn’t hear from him again for a while. But one day after school, I came home to a garage full of tech. Tools and good computers. A Mark 2 potato gun, robots, a _car_ , Tony’s number, and just about anything I could ever want to become a prodigy. Ever since then, I’ve worked as hard as I can to get good at mechanical engineering. I’m terrible at chemistry, but that’s because I tend to do something with chemicals _before_ readin’ the label.

Harley ended his story with a chuckle, thinking of how he had almost blown both himself and Tony up the day before.

“Wow,” Peter said, completely in awe of Harley.

“I agree,” Natasha said, smiling at Harley warmly.

“So how did you guys meet Tony?” Harley asked after a moment.

Before anyone could respond, FRIDAY’s alarm went off.

“Oh! That’s the peach cobbler. Can you grab the ice cream while I get it out of the oven, маленький паук?" Natasha asked, already walking toward the kitchen.

Peter shrugged and got up, reluctantly releasing his iron grip on Harley’s hand. He quickly grabbed the gallon bucket of ice cream, trailing behind Natasha closely. She shouted at Steve and Bucky to put the empty dishes in the dishwasher so that there would be room on the table for the massive peach cobbler in her gloved hands. She placed the steaming dish in the middle of the table. Peter placed the ice cream and the scoop on one side of the dish, and Steve and Bucky placed a stack of plates on the other. Natasha cut the cobbler into even slices and placed a piece on every plate. Peter topped them with ice cream and passed the plates to whoever’s outstretched hand was closest.

After everyone had gotten a slice, Natasha and Peter sat back down. The rest of the group, who had been patiently waiting for the pair to sit, dug into Natasha’s heavenly creation.

“Tha’ ish _amazing_ ,” Peter mumbled around his bite.

“It really is,” Harley agreed after swallowing.

Everyone else agreed, muttering about how heavenly and sweet it was. Natasha thanked them as she ate her own piece, savoring the flavors in her mouth. The table members continued to chat while they ate, eagerly waiting to see who could lift Thor’s hammer. 

After everyone had finally finished the delicious cobbler- _”Thanks Natasha!”_ \- and finished loading the dishwasher with their plates, they headed over to the living room. Thor placed Mjölnir in the middle of the coffee table and sat down on the couch next to Loki.

“Who would like to try first?” Thor asked amusedly.

“I’ll try it!” Tony responded eagerly.

Everyone snickered, doubting that Tony’s results would be any different than the last time he tried lifting it.

Tony tried his hardest to lift it, but the more he pulled at it, the heavier it got. Eventually, he gave up, shaking his head resignedly as he plopped himself down next to Bruce in a petulant, childlike manner. Clint, Wanda, Carol, Natasha, Bucky, Bruce, and Harley all tried and failed. When it was Loki’s turn, much to everyone’s surprise, he was able to lift it.

_“What?”_ Loki and Tony asked in unison.

“Wow,” Thor said, looking at Loki with a mildly terrified, but somewhat proud expression.

“Don’t worry, brother,” Loki reassured nervously, “I have no intention of ruling. Not after everything that I’ve done.”

“I don’t doubt that you would make a strong, wise king,” Thor said after a moment of tense silence.

“ _Really?_ ” Loki asked in disbelief.

“You’ve proven yourself. Now that you are no longer under the control of that purple giant, I see no reason why you would not make a good ruler,” Thor boomed happily.

Loki smiled softly, “Thank you, brother.”

After he sat down, the remaining people went up to the hammer. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Vision was still able to lift Thor’s hammer with ease. Steve pretended to not be able to lift Mjölnir, but Peter, Loki, Bucky, Thor, and Natasha saw right through the facade. 

“Your turn, Pete,” Steve said, gesturing to the hammer back on the table.

Peter gulped and nodded, shakily walking towards the hammer sitting in front of him. He grabbed the handle tightly, and nearly fell backward when he yanked the hammer off the table. 

“Wow, this is _really_ light!” Peter said, astonished.

Everyone stared at Peter in awe. Tony’s mouth dropped open when he saw that Peter had actually managed to pick Mjölnir up.

“You are the youngest person to ever lift that hammer,” Loki said proudly.

Peter looked at him, his eyes wide.

_“Really?”_

Thor nodded enthusiastically. Peter marveled at the hammer in his hands.

Tony got up and walked over to where he was standing and engulfed Peter in a hug.

“I’m proud of you, kid,” Tony said, smiling warmly at Peter.

Peter (and literally every adult in the room) looked at Tony with wide eyes, not expecting him to congratulate the young hero.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, beaming happily.

After Tony let go, he muttered, “I mean I could’ve _sworn_ it was gonna be Harley, but apparently not.”

He did so in a manner that was quiet enough that the rest of the team couldn’t hear it, but Peter and Harley heard it with perfect clarity.

Fighting back tears, Peter handed Mjölnir back to Thor and declared that he was tired and going to bed, praying that his voice wouldn’t give away his hurt feelings. Everyone seemed to accept this, save for Harley, who concernedly watched as Peter practically ran out of the room.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed too,” Harley said in a rushed tone. 

He sprinted out of the room, not waiting for a response.

Once Harley caught up with Peter in the elevator, he asked, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Fine,” Peter said stiffly, staring straight ahead at the closed doors in an attempt to ignore Harley’s worried gaze.

After a moment of tense silence, Harley said, “Thank you.”

Caught completely by surprise, Peter asked, “What?”

“Thank you for tonight. You helped me just by bein’ there,” Harley said quietly, brushing his fingers against Peter’s. 

Peter looked away, feeling ashamed of himself for acting so coldly towards Harley.

“It was nothing,” Peter mumbled, his gaze falling to the floor.

“It meant a lot to me,” Harley said, intertwining his fingers with Peter’s.

Peter’s cheeks lit up with a light blush as he shrugged nonchalantly. He gave Harley a brief smile and squeezed his hands lightly. Harley grabbed Peter’s other hand and pulled him in for a warm hug. The pair didn’t pull away until the elevator dinged, indicating that Peter had reached the right level.

“Night,” Harley said after Peter exited the elevator.

“Night, Harley,” Peter said, smiling softly.

He didn’t turn around to go to his bedroom until the doors closed, not wanting to look away from Harley’s sweet smile.

Once he was finally in his pajamas and settled into bed, he asked FRIDAY to turn off the lights. Once she did, he closed his eyes and prepared himself for a peaceful slumber. Harley did the same in his room, expecting to be greeted by a quiet sleep. Unfortunately for both of them, sleep was something that wouldn’t greet them until very late into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! A little disclaimer, I'm starting school in less than a week so my updates are gonna get a little erratic. Also, I am in need of Beta Readers! For those who don't know what those are, they’re people who go through unpublished chapters and look for mistakes (grammar mistakes, sentences that don’t make sense, redundancies, etc). If you’re interested, message me on my tumblr @marvelenthusiast3000 (original, I know 😂). Just a disclaimer, you’re going to need to be willing to give me your email and Instagram, and I’m only taking a few people so don’t be offended if I say no. Another disclaimer, beta reading completely destroys your ability to read this fanfiction, so be prepared for that. Anyway, leave a kudos and a comment if you like the chapter! And feel free to leave suggestions! They’re always welcome!
> 
> Oh and also, Дерьмо is a Russian swear that basically translates to “shit” or “crap” (according to google translate)


	11. Tired Eyes and Stormy Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Peter and Harley can’t sleep so they both go down to the communal floor to get milk but instead end up cuddling on the couch and watching Moana because Peter’s scared of storms. It’s literally just more fluff and angst people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's been a minute 😅. I'll let you enjoy the chapter before I ramble out an explanation about why I've been gone for so long.
> 
> Happy Reading Everyone!!

Peter blearily opened his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that night. He looked over at the clock on Bucky’s side of the bed.

_1:47 AM_

Peter internally groaned. He had been trying to sleep for hours. As comfortable as he was in the super-soldiers’ iron grip, he was beginning to grow restless. As Bucky shifted, Peter slipped between the moving pair and off the bed. Knowing how sensitive their ears were, Peter tiptoed out of the room and continued to do so until he got to the elevator.

“Could you take me to the kitchen?” Peter asked quietly.

“Of course,” FRIDAY said gently, her voice just as soft as Peter’s.

Peter whispered a grateful “thank you” as he silently waited for the elevator to stop. Once the doors opened, he quietly walked out into the dark, empty kitchen. He made his way to the fridge, opening it as quietly as he could. He took the milk out and gently placed it on the counter, closing the fridge as carefully as he could. As he sluggishly opened the cabinet to grab a glass, he heard the elevator doors open. 

Unbeknownst to Peter, Harley was also having trouble sleeping that night. He spent hours tossing and turning in his bed but just couldn’t fall asleep. Much like Peter, he figured that a glass of milk would help. 

He walked out of the elevator groggily, rubbing his eyes as the doors closed. He jumped slightly when he opened his eyes, not expecting Peter’s mildly amused gaze to meet his own. 

“Peter? What’re you doin’ up this late?” Harley mumbled confusedly.

Peter responded, “I could ask you the same thing.”

Harley’s smirk and raised eyebrow mirrored Peter’s.

“Touché,” Harley chuckled, walking over to where the exhausted hero was standing. 

“Couldn’t sleep. Thought milk might help,” Peter said, pouring himself a glass of milk, “Want some?” 

Harley nodded, responding, “Yeah, thanks.”

Peter handed his filled glass to Harley, earning an appreciated smile from the taller teen. As he quietly drank the milk, Peter grabbed another glass and filled it. 

Before he took a sip of his own milk, he paused and asked, “You couldn’t sleep either, could you?”

Harley smiled sadly and shook his head.

“It’s just…. different, I guess. At home, I could hear the crickets and see fireflies at night. I could see the stars and the moon out my window. Now, I can’t see or hear any a’ that.”

Peter frowned.

“I'm sorry. I’ve never really gone out of New York for anything other than….erm, emergencies. I can’t imagine something like that. It sounds really nice though.”

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Harley said, thinking back to his room back in Tennessee.

It was small, messy, and littered with parts of experiments that Harley wanted to work on outside of the garage. Screws, nuts, bolts, haphazardly thrown safety equipment, and posters of the Avengers could be seen all over Harley’s bedroom. His bed was small, hard, and almost always unmade. His window, which was right next to his (also messy) desk, was fairly large. Every night, he could see the stars and moon peeking out from behind the clouds. In the summer, when he left the window open, a cool breeze flowed through the warm air as he worked late into the night. Whenever he finally went to bed, the crickets and grasshoppers would lull him to sleep with their quiet chirping.

Harley smiled sadly as his mind wandered. Although it wasn’t the most impressive room or the nicest, it was home. 

“I bet it’s great,” Peter said as gently as he could, nudging Harley’s hand with his own.

Harley’s cheeks heated lightly as he smiled at Peter.

“I guess I’m just a little homesick. It’s just so quiet up here. _Especially_ at night,” Harley admitted softly.

Peter opened his mouth to respond but was quickly cut off by a distant rumble. Rain began to drizzle outside and tap against the window as the sky lit up with lightning. 

“Looks like you won’t have to worry about it being too quiet anymore,” Peter chuckled quietly.

Harley snorted but was quickly sobered by a crack of thunder and a bright flash of lightning. Both teens could feel the building wobble slightly as the rain began to crash against the windows. Much to his embarrassment, Peter failed to hold back a strangled whimper. 

“You okay?” Harley asked, concerned.

Peter gulped and shakily started, “Yeah, I’m fi-”

Another boom interrupted Peter, shaking the building once again. 

The look of complete terror in Peter’s eyes told Harley everything he needed to know. Almost on autopilot, Harley downed the last of his milk and pulled Peter into a hug, leaving his glass on the counter for later. 

Peter’s cheeks rapidly heated, but he could do nothing but shudder as Harley rubbed his back reassuringly. Hoping to comfort the older teen, he softly told Peter stories about how he used to do the same thing for his sister back in Tennessee. 

“Every time it rained, I’d wrap her in a blanket and sit with her. We’d watch movies while waitin’ for the storm to end, and almost every single time we’d both fall asleep,” He whispered, nostalgia lacing his voice, “Would that help you, darlin’?”

Mortified and teary-eyed, Peter nodded timidly. Harley smiled, and slowly led Peter over to the couch. He took the glass of milk from Peter’s shaking hands and placed it on the table in front of them, gently sitting Peter down. He grabbed a nearby blanket and sat next to the trembling hero, wrapping it around both of them. 

Unbeknownst to Harley, Peter’s panic had nothing to do with rain. The poor thing was both seconds away from sensory overload and in the middle of a flashback. The shaking of the building, combined with the bright flashing of lightning and loud crashes of thunder was both overwhelming his heightened senses and reminding him of the day he was trapped under a building. During his fight with the Vulture, Peter nearly died. Alone and scared, trapped with no hope of anyone finding him. If he hadn’t found the strength to lift the building off when he did….

Peter shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. He shuddered as Harley cautiously wrapped his arm around Peter’s shaking body, but managed to relax into the embrace after a calming breath. 

Once Harley felt Peter’s body go somewhat lax against his own, he asked FRIDAY to play Moana. At Peter’s questioning and mildly amused look, Harley shrugged.

“What can I say? It's what my sister and I watch every time there’s a storm,” Harley whispered, chuckling quietly.

“Fair enough,” Peter chuckled, snuggling into Harley’s arms. 

The pair sat in a comfortable silence as the screen lit up. As the intro played, both Peter and Harley felt their eyes begin to grow heavy. Around 10 minutes into the movie, Harley felt Peter’s head gently hit his shoulder. He smiled fondly, and guided Peter’s head to the pillow, gently laying him down. He moved to get up but was stopped by Peter’s hand on his arm.

_“Stay,”_ Peter mumbled.

Harley hesitated, not wanting to take advantage of Peter in his tired state.

“Are you sure?” Harley whispered hesitantly.

Peter mumbled into the pillow irritatedly and lightly tugged at Harley’s arm.

Harley smiled and laughed quietly. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” He whispered, gently laying himself down behind Peter. 

Wrapping his arm around Peter’s waist, Harley gently asked, “Is this okay?”

Peter happily mumbled, snuggling into the embrace. In his exhausted state, Peter was unable to think of how embarrassed he should be or how this could possibly be too forward. All he could think of was being with Harley, and finally getting some much-needed sleep. 

Harley, ever the gentleman, asked, “You comfortable darlin’?”

Peter, completely unaware of what Harley just called him for the second time that night, grumpily turned over so that he was facing Harley.

“If I say yes will you let me sleep?” Peter grouched tiredly.

Harley chuckled, “Only if it’s true. I don’t want you wakin’ up with a crick in your neck.”

Peter huffed.

“I’m fine. Go to sleep.”

Harley snickered, “Okay, okay. Night Peter.”

“Night Harley,” Peter said, snuggling into Harley’s comforting embrace.

Within minutes, both teens were fast asleep. FRIDAY turned off the TV without a word, smiling to herself at the cuddling pair. They slept peacefully, blissfully unaware of what the new day would bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm so sorry for being gone for so long, and for the short chapter. Online school has been kicking my ass, and I kind of just started antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds. This past few months has been really rough for me, but now that they're finally getting better I should hopefully be able to get out the next chapter quickly. Oh, and I promise it'll be longer than this one 😅. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a kudos if you like it! And feel free to leave comments about what you liked (or didn't like) about the chapter (but please leave only constructive criticism if there's something wrong), what you're hoping for in future chapters, and anything else you'd like to say! Everyone's comments really mean a lot to me, and they help me out a lot. Thanks for reading!! Love you all <3


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